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THE HOUSE OF THE HONEYMOON 







The Battle for Another’s Life.” — Page 23. 








THE HOUSE OF THE 



By Harry Eskew 

~ MpV« % Q\»v\Vv« 





THE LIBRARY Of 
CONGRESS, 

Two COPIfiS RrO£TVET> 

wov 'u )9oa 

CoBvpiflur pnrry 

0ci.'7/t?vz 

CLASS «l. YXrv No. 

706 , 2 .*/ 


Copyright 1903 

By H. B. Wiggin’s Sons Co. 


The H ouse of the Honeymoon. 

CHAPTER I. 

T HE sunshine of that beautiful June day, performed 
with notable vigor its two-fold function: to give 
light and heat. Its light, radiant, all-penetrating, 
all-illuminating, hovered over the great city, shin- 
ing upon the busy streets, pervading the offices in the tall 
buildings, forcing through the defences of rich mansions, 
sending cheerful gleams into fine tenements, and 
would not be excluded from even the darker regions 
where squalid misery gathered its rags around it in 
wretched courts and alleys. It was glorious — or would 
have been had it not been for the heat. The streets 
palpitated. The people, reeking at every pore, moved 
slowly, taking advantage of even the tiniest spot of shade. 
Drivers were extra cautious about hurrying their heavily 
burdened teams. Business was almost at a standstill, 
except in the tall buildings where the workers were 
grateful for a breath of the upper and cooler aD. It was 
bad enough, that heat, in the homes of the rich, and in 
the fine tenements, but in the close, unventilated courts 
and alleys it was almost unbearable. Weak children gave 
up the brief, hard struggle for life, and gasped their way 
into eternity. Half-nourished men and' women, and those 
enfeebled by dissipation, were stricken as from a giant’s 
blow. 

Both the light and the heat of that June sunshine 
invaded a little room on the third floor pf a Twenty-Third 
street building, a room which served as a studio for 
Miss Alicia Flemming, 4 ‘Artist in Decoration. ” The light 
brought into full effectiveness the soft green walls, 
partly covered with sketches of idealized interiors; the 


6 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


little bookcase, with its assortment of volumes on the 
various phases of decorative art; the cosy-corner, heaped 
with couch pillows, illustrating the latest designs and 
materials in that interesting branch of woman’s work; the 
centre-table covered with specimens of domestic embroid- 
ery, including, as did the couch pillows, examples of the 
raffia embroidery on burlap just coming into what promised 
to be a really great vogue; and, most striking of all, the 
little desk at which Miss Flemming was now sitting, help- 
lessly i taring at some scribbled sheets upon which she 
was trying to express her ide s of “Fads and Fancies in 
Modern Decoration,” with a view to their publication in 
the next issue of “ The Homemaker.” 

The heat was responsible for the depressing effect <af so 
many combinations of color as were gathered into that 
one small room, and for the look of baffled weariness 
which clouded the fair fare of Miss Flemming. 

For Miss Flemming was, indeed, fair to look upon. 
Witho t disparagement of her work, it may be truly said 
that she was more decorative in person than she was by 
profession. Nature had done for her what a~t can never 
d > for anything. She w-S an embodied bouquet. The 
dreamy blue of the violet was in her eyes, the pink flush 
of the carnatio i glowed on her cheeks, the crimson of roses 
tinged her lips, the siow of the lily lay on her broad, full 
forehead, and the gra e of the lily was in her small, lithe 
figure. Her light-brown hair, in which the sunlight made 
glints of gold, fell in fluffy waves down to her temples, 
creating a fitting frame for the face. 

Ju-t now there were wrinkles of perplexity in that broad 
forehead, and the rosy mouth was drawn wearily ; t the 
corners. Little Miss Hemming was pondering. Would 
her depressed brain ever again recover its usual alertness 
and elas icity, so that she could finish her writing ? 
Would there ever be demand enough for her services so 
that she could afford to dose her studio during the sultry 
season, and ri n away to the seashore or the mountains ? 
Had she not missed it when, through much privation, she 
had labored to fit herself for the sphere she was now 
attempting to fill ? A year ago she had opened her studio, 
and she had not been without patronage ; but, except for 
the small help from the magazine, whose editor had been 
one of her teachers, she would have found difficulty in 
paying her way. Since coming to the city she had lived 
quietly, dressed economically, and worked very hard. 
Her health had been fairly good, and her ambitious spirit 
had sustained her through all her trials. But the strong- 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


7 


est spirit will have moments of doubt and depression, and 
little Miss Flemming was temporarily under a cloud. 

Presently she arose, went to the corner wash-stand, and 
bathed her troubled face with cool water. She was in the 
act of drying it, when a footstep sounded in the hallway, 
stopped at the door, upon which v as given a firm knock. 
Hastily dabbing the remaining moisture from her counte- 
nance, she opened the door, and found herself confronted 
by a pleasant-looking but rather embar assed young man. 

“This is Miss Flemming’s studio?” he inquired, — as 
solicitously as though her name did not stare at him from 
the door-panel. 

“It is; and I am Miss Flemming.” 

“ Ah, thank you. I am fortunate to find: you in. The 
told me at the Homemaker office that you were seldon 
here in the afternoon, but I ventured to call.” 

He handed her his card. 

“ Step in and be seated, Mr. Hawthorne. What can l 
do for you ? ” Miss Flemming whirled her desk chair 
around, and sat opposite him with her best business air. 

The young man hesitated a little. Miss Flemming wa ; 
hardly the sort of person he had expected to meet. He 
found it difficult, to state his business while his eyes were 
on her face. So, after a brief stare, he looked out of the 
window and was brought back to common things by the 
view of ugly walls, roofs and chimneys. 

“The fact is, Miss Flemming,” he began, — “the fact 
is that I am in a peculiar situation, and am looking for 
unusual assistance. My mother and I live together. My 
father died about two yea- s rgo. He was devoted to his 
business, and had strict notions as to economy. He d-ew 
the household purse-strings so tight that, although he was 
abundantly able to support a handsome establishment, 
my mother’s dream of some day living in a home which 
approached her ideal could never be realized I don’t 
wish to give you a false impression of father. He was a 
good man, and always kind in his treatment of mother 
and me; but he had the fever for accumulation, and 
couldn’t bear to part with money beyond what seemed to 
him a reasonable necessity. 

“His will left his all to mother and me. I quitted 
college to take up the business, and I determined ihat 
mother’s last days should be brightened by the fuifillmei t 
of all her long-repressed wishes. I had an aichitect ta 1 e 
her ideas of a suitable house, and put them into f< rm. I 
gave the contract to competent builders. Owing to labor 
troubles, the completion of the house was greatly delayed. 


8 The House of the Honeymoon. 

but it is now receiving the finishing touches. 

“We are brought to the question of decorations and 
furnishings. Here again mother has her own ideas. She 
has given years of thought and study to the subject, and 
knows pretty well what she wants and can obtain. The 
house is not palatial, — she would have no extravagance, — 
neither does she propose to go to extremes in fitting it up; 
but she has very decided views on the matter, views that 
appear to me quite just and true. 

“Mother is far from well. Her health has grad rally 
failed, and she is totally unfitted to supervise the woik of 
the decorators, or to attend to the selection of furnishings. 
I am completely tied up in my business. We need 
the help of some competent person who will enter 
into mother’s plans, suggest improvement, where 
improvement can be made, and act in mother’s stead 
in seeing those plans carried out. Yesterday mother 
read your article in tlrs month’s Homemaker, and was 
greatly impressed by it. She asked me to hunt you 
up, thinking that if you couldn’t yourself help us out, 
you might know some one who could and would. I got 
your address at the magazine office, and — well, here I 
am.” His eyes left the walls and roofs and chimneys, 
and once more rested on her face; this time with less 
embarrassment. 

“And may I ask where your new home is to be, and 
how your helper is to keep in touch with the source of 
authority ? ” inquired Miss Fleming, the violet eyes full 
of sympathetic interest, and the crimson-tipped lips curv- 
ing upward with an encouraging smile. She was outwardly 
calm, but inwardly she was quivering with wonder at what 
promised to be a stroke of incredible good-fortune. Such 
an opportunity! 

“ O, I should have told you, ” said the young man, “that 
we have built at Wavecrest in the highlands of the Jersey 
shore. For the last two summers we have lived there in 
a rented cottage, and mother is delighted with the place. 
It is near enough to the city so that I can easily get to 
business, and it has the unusual advantage of combining 
real country life with the privileges of a popular seaside 
resort. What we would like best would be to have our 
adviser and assistant come there and live with us for a 
time. It would both please and benefit mother to have a 
congenial companion, and we are willing to make any 
financial arrangement necessary to secure such a person.” 

When the sun went down at the close of that hot June 
day, it left Miss Alicia Flemming busy over her trunks, 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


9 


and in an exultantly joyful frame of mind. The cloud of 
the afternoon had passed away. The financial arrange- 
ment suggested by Mr. Hawthorne was such as far 
exceeded any “financial arrangement ” she had ever made 
during her years of self-dependence. It seemed to her 
munificent. Then, too, she was to spend several weeks, 
at least, by the seasnoi e, instead of the paltry few days 
she had hoped to afford. More important still, if not more 
pleasant, she would have a fine opportunity to make 
practical studies and experiments in decoration and 
furnishing, and thus get fresh and original matter for her 
magazine. The only possible drawback was in her rela- 
tions with old Mrs. Hawthorne. If the old lady proved 
to be a peevish, notional and domineering person, inclined 
to exact the homage due to a superior, life might not be 
all roses. But, she must take her chances. For such an 
opportunity Miss Flemming felt she would be willing to 
bear a good deal. 

She sent her trunks to the boat the next morning, and 
spent some hours in finishing her Homemaker article, in 
notifying her clients and correspondents of her new 
address, and in packing away her studio fittings. At three 
o’clock Mr. Hawthorne called for her with a carriage, and 
at a quarter to four they were on the Wavecrest boat 
speeding down the harbor. 

She found Mr. Hawthorne a very agreeable escort. 
Discovering that her knowledge of the harbor and bay 
was but slight, he pointed out the places and objects of 
note, commenting on them in an interesting way, and 
without a particle of affectation. Indeed he seemed most 
anxious to please her, and was succeeding admirably when 
an interruption occurred. It came in the person of an- 
other young man, of rather distinguished appearance, 
dressed strictly in the mode, who, having passed them 
once in his tramp up the deck, came face to face with 
them as he returned. Seeing Miss Flemming, he stopped, 
looked questioningly at her for a second or two, and then 
came forward with outstretched hand and beaming face. 

“ Alicia\ Is it really you? ” he exclaimed. 

“ Yes, Walter, it is really I,” she quietly replied, giving 
him her hand. Then she introduced the two young men. 
The newcomer seated himself with them. 

“ Mr. El verson is a person not unknown to fame,” Miss 
Flemming explained to Hawthorne. “He has made quite 
a stir in the art world in the last two or three years. We 
heard most flattering things of him while he was yet in 
Paris, and now New York honors him, — and is honored 


io The House of the Honeymoon. 

by him. I once had the privilege of being his small-girl 
neighbor and s hoolmate. You see his success hasn’t 
made 1dm too \ roud to acknowledge his humble past 
acqu dntances. ” 

“Do i t talk nonsense, Alicia! — or should I say Miss 
Flemming?” laughingly retorted the artist. 

“ Alicia, by all means, if you will It is so long since 
I nut anvone who knew me in the old way, that Alicia 
and Miss 1 lemming se,m distinct persons. Alicia died 
young, and so long ago that Miss Fiemming can scarcely 
remember what she looked like.” 

“Then Miss Flemming should look in a mirror,” said 
Elverson. “Five years have made as little change in 
you as could possibly be. I’d have known you anywhere. 
As for Alicia being dead, if she is dead you killed her; 
sacrificing her young life to yo r determination to be 
independent, and burying her in some out-of-the-way 
corner of the" great city. Why was it necessary to hide 
like that? And, if you knew I had returned, why couldn’t 
you let me know where you were? ” 

Alicia .made no reply, but sat, sadly thoughtful, her 
gaze directed far o 't over the waters. 

“We owe Mr. Hawthorne an explanation,” she said, 
after a tine. “Five years ago, just after Mr. Elverson 
had gon • to Par s, and while I was away at school, my 
father, moth r arid little brother were inst ntly killed at 
a railroad crossing while out driving. I found myself left 
an orphan, with but little provision, and I went to the 
city to learn something that would enabl : me to earn my 
living. I have managed to do so witho t being a burdt n 
to my friends, — for which I am as thankful as they ought 
to be.” 

“ But,” protested Elverson, “there might have been, ” — 

“ Yes,” she interrupted, “ there might have been many 
things. We know, at le.tsr, what has been and is.” 

“Perhaps what h s been is for the b(st,” suggested 
Mr. Hawthorne. “But here we are at the pier. Miss 
Flemming will be our guest at Wav, crest for a few weeks, 
Mr. Elverson, and my mother and I will be pleased to 
have vou call.” 

“Thank you very much, Mr. Hawthorne,” replied 
Elverson. And then, as Hawthorne moved ahead a little, 
Elverson put out his hand to Miss Flemming, and said: 

“ And you, Alicia? ” Will you, too, be glad to have me 
call? ” 

“ Surely,” she answered; though she did not meet his 
eyes. “ Why not? ” 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


ii 


“ Thank you,” he murmured. And she followed Mr. 
Hawthorne. 


CHAPTER II. 

If Alicia had felt any misgivings as to her relations 
with Mrs. Hawthorne, such misg’vings were put to flight 
in the first five minutes of their intercourse. The sweet, 
placid old face, with its setting of snow-white hair, was 
lighted by a pair of eyes brimful and running over with 
sympathy and love. The sad memories awakened by her 
meeting with El verson still left their traces on Alicia’s 
face when she met Mrs. Hawthorne, and, with the keen- 
ness of one whose heart is sensitive to the sorrow of 
others, the old lady noticed the shadow, and put a world 
of comfort in her welcoming kiss and caress. 

“ It is so good of you, my dear, to come to the aid of a 
poor, foolish old woman, who ought, perhaps, to be think- 
ing more of her heavenly than her e irthly mansion. But, 
as George probably told yon, it ^s the fulfillment of a long- 
cherish- d dream, and I hope the folly of it may not be 
charged too heavily against me. The new house is the 
embodiment of a romantic fancy of my girlhood. I fancied 
that I should marry a rich man, — which 1 didn t, though 
riches came afterward. I fancied that my husband would 
take me to an c legantly appointed home. We would have 
every luxury, and I would be the envy of all my girl 
friends. But these things were not to be. Now, even at 
this late day, I am to see part of this dream realized, and 
I call the new home “ The House of the Honeymoon ” 

“ It is a very pretty fancy,” said Alicia, smiling at Mrs. 
Hawthorne’s rather apologetic explanation. 

They all ret : red early that evening, and Hawthorne 
took little part in the brief after-dinner talk. The next 
morning he and Alicia breakfasted at seven, and before 
he left for the city he took Alicia up to see the new house. 

Wavecrest is situated on Sandy Hook bay, at the north- 
ern end of the highlands from which the Twin Lights 
long sent their rays out over the night-shadowed waters 
for the guidance of those who go down to the sea in ships. 
The village climbs by beautiful terraces up the side of a 


12 The House of the Honeymoon. 

hill, on the summit of which is a circle of fine residences. 
Beyond this, by another sharp ascent, one reaches the 
level where the forest still grows unchecked, except as 
winding paths and roadways give access to its cool, 
shaded depths. 

The new house occupied a commanding site on the 
village edge of this high bluff, with a magnificent outlook 
upon the bay and sea. It was a fine, modern building, 
with ample grounds around it, grounds recently rescued 
from wildness, and now beginning to show the first green 
growth of the sward that was to be. Entering it, they 
went from room to room, Hawthorne explaining how 
this or the other arrangement was his mother's own idea, 
and giving Alicia many hints concerning what it was 
hoped they could do in the way of fitting up the home. 

Then he had to hurry for his boat. It did not occur to 
Alicia that Hawthorne had not mentioned Elverson. 
Why should he? But, then, why shouldn’t he? 

When Alicia got back to the cottage, she found Mrs. 
Hawthorne up and eating her tea and toast. Aftei this 
was finished they went out on the shady side of the broad 
veranda, and as soon as they were comfortably seated, 
Mrs. Hawthorne said: 

“Now, my dear, tell me all about yourself. You know 
how curious old women are sure to be. I shall be much 
easier to get along with if you humor my foibles.” 

So Alicia told her story; told it very simply, making as 
light as possible of her sorrows and struggles, and paint- 
ing only her successes in .strong tints. But the kind old 
heart was not deceived. She understood, though she 
sat silent for a long time after the story ended, and 
finally made no comment except to say: “Ycu poor, 
dear child ! ” as she laid her hand gently upon Alicia’s. 

When next she spoke it was on another topic. 

“Now about this work of decoration,” she began. “ I 
think George told you that I had been interested in such 
subjects for many years. I built a great many Spanish 
castles, and planned carefully all the details of their 
interior adornment. In order to fit myself for this dream- 
work I read much and thought more. I wonder if I will 
ever get as much satisfaction from owning a real house, 
fitted as I wish it to be, as I have had in planning for the 
‘ airy nothings ’ of my imagination? ” 

“ Why shouldn’t you? ” Alicia asked, though she knew 
the question to be an empty one. 

“Well,” said the old lady, “I am too near the end of 


13 


The House of the Honeymoon. 

my time and strength, for one thing. It matters less now 
what sort of make-shift shelters me. Forty years ago, 
when I was passably well-looking and socially ambitious, 
it would have meant much to me if I could have dressed 
myself with a becoming house. ” 

Alicia laughed at the quaint suggestion. 

“Dressed yourself with a house!” she exclaimed. 
“ What an odd notion ! ” 

“Does it strike you so?” queried Mrs. Hawthorne, 
looking at Alicia with a quizzical assumption of surprise. 
“ Is it possible that a writer for the Homemaker has never 
realized that a woman’s home is merely a larger dress 
which, if well arranged, serves to bring out her good 
points ; or, if badly arranged, serves to kill every personal 
advantage nature and the dressmaker have given her? ” 

“I’m sure I never before thought of it in that way,” 
admitted Alicia, meditatively. 

“Why, my dear,” pursued the kind old voice, “the 
first beginning of home-making is to recognize that the 
home is simply an extension of the personality and person 
of the woman who is its centre. The charm of a home is the 
woman. Whatever can increase that charm, whether it is 
fine wearing apparel, or harmonious house decorations, the 
woman ought to seek and her men-folks ought to supply. 
Her clothes must be made to suit her form and complexion. 
Her rooms should agree with her person and her clothes. I 
have seen a well-dressed and handsome woman made tc 
look ugly and dowdy by being in a room where the walls 
and furnishings threw her into unpleasant contrast. It 
sets my store teeth on edge now as I think how I was 
once received by a handsome brunette dressed in a red 
evening gown, in a drawing-room where the walls were 
blue, the draperies pink, and the furniture a nightmare 
of dark blue and gilt ! The effect on her complexion was 
to make her fairly purple in the face! ” 

Alicia joined in the hearty laugh this picture shook from 
her companion. 

“ Surely,” she said, “that is a new point of view.” 

“O, no it isn’t,” replied Mrs. Hawthorne. “No doubt 
many another has thought of it. ” 

“ But I have never seen it written up,” persisted Alicia, 
the instinct of the scribe aroused in her. 

“The scribblers haven’t exhausted this subject yet, my 
dear, and they won’t exhaust it very soon,” replied the 
old lady. Then, as the carriage drove under the porte 
cochere, she said : 

“ But, come now, slip on your hat while Mary bundles 


4 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


me up. We will take a look at Wavecrest, and we can 
talk shop again after I have had my afternoon nap.” 

They were soon in the carriage, whirling at an inspiring 
pace along the fine road which ran through the woodland 
skirting the bluff. Though Alicia ventured once or twice 
to approach what was to her the all-absorbing topic, she 
found Mrs. Hawthorne inflexible in her determination to 
confine the conversation to other things. And, what with 
hill and vallev, woodland and meadow, and the frequent 
glitnpses of far-stret:hing sea and sky, there was enough in 
Nature to put Art for the time in the background. 


CHAPTER III. 

After lunch, while Mrs. Hawthorne was having her 
“ forty winks ” as she termed it, though there must have 
been long intervals between winks, Alicia strolled down 
to the shore and watched the crowd of bathers who were 
disporting themselves after the usual manner. When she 
returne l she found her patron in the veranda chair listen- 
ing with keen enjoyment while Maiy read to her “The 
Gentleman from Indiana. ” The reading stopped as Alicia 
approached. 

“You may go now, Mary, thank you, ” sad the old lady. 
Then s e continued, addressing Alicia as Mary went: 

“ That’s a decent sort of story. I confess that I know 
h'»w it’s going to turn out, but that’s part of the satisfac- 
tio i. I never read a story until I look up its finish. If 
it ends with tragedy, as seems to be the rule in modern 
stories, I don’t bother with it. I read novels for enter- 
tai iment and recreation. The daily paper f .rn.shes 
traced es enough. If a writer can’t te l us a pleasant 
itory, ther, for goodness sake let him or her wr.te about 
hom thing else.” 

‘ Decorations, perhaps,” suggested Alicia, laughing at 
lur friend’s earnestness of protest. 

“ Yes; t 1 at is, if they know anything worth writing on 
the subject,” was the shrewd reply. 

Mrs. Hawthorne waited untd Alicia was comfortably 
seated, and then returned to the subject of the morning’s 
talk. 


The House of the Honeymoon. 15 

“Well, my dear, what will be your first step towards 
the decoration of our house? ” she asked. 

“The determination of a color scheme, and the selec- 
tion of the paper, I suppose,” replied Alicia 

“ Ti at’s just the point I wished to bring up, right now.” 
And Mrs. Hawthorne smiled her quizzical smile. “It is 
mv wish that not a scrap of paper goes on the walls of our 
house. ” 

Alicia looked rather surprised and dismayed. Was 
Mrs. Hawthorne joking? 

“But what will you use if you don’t use paper?” she 
inquired, in a ra her bewildered way. 

The old lady laughed at Alicia’s evident discomfiture. 

“And you are a writer on decorations! ” she exclaimed. 
“But, forgive my rudeness,” she went on. “I laid a 
trap for you, and you fell into it, that’s all Did you ever 
hear of Fab-Ri-Ko-Na? ” 

“ Do you mean the woven wall fabrics that are some- 
thing of a fad at present? ” asked Alicia. 

“Fad!” exclaimed Mrs. Hawthorne. “Why, my dear, 
you never made a greater mistake. Fab-Ri-Ko-Na is not 
a fad, but a revolution. It is as much of an advance over 
all other wall coverings as the modern battle-ship is over 
the wooden frigates in which my grandfather fought the 
B i‘ish! Believe me, child, it is no fad; it is an invaluable 
discovery or invention, or whatever you may choose to 
ca l it. Have you noticed the walls of th s cottage?” 

“ Do you mean have I noticed the paper? ” 

“ I mean both the paper and the cracks. The paper is of 
£ood qi’alry, and was put on only this last Spring, but 
evt ry room in the blessed house is marre I by unsightly 
cr .ck-. A woven wall covering would have prevented 
such blemishes. The wall simply can’t crack when a 
strong fabric holds it. 

“Then think of the designs. They are handsome 
enough, and attractive when one first sees them, but my 
eyes get tired and my nerves unstrung looking at zig-zig 
lines that carry the sight through a meaningless maze, or 
at curves and circles that lc ad to nothing and end nowhere, 
men ly repeating themselves every eighteen inches all 
around the room. I greatly prefer a wall of solid color, 
with the ornament in the frieze where one don’t have to 
look at it all the time, or in an artistic panel, which is as 
much separated from the general wall as any other picture.” 

She paused for a moment looking far away over the 
water. Indeed she had seemed for the moment to be 
thinking aloud rather than addressing Alicia. 


16 The House of the Honeymoon. 

“ Speaking of pictures,” she went on, “there is nothing 
put on a wall that makes such a lovely background for 
pictures and statuary as Fab-Ri-Ko-Na. I wonder if they 
use it in studios and art-galleries yet?” 

“ Here comes someone who may be able to tell us,” said 
Alicia. And as she spoke Elverson mounted the steps of 
the veranda. She introduced him to Mrs. Hawthorne, 
and playfully explained the subject of their conversation. 
Elverson did not seem especially interested, but the old 
lady was too intent on her point to let him escape. 

“We were just wondering,” she said, “whether you 
artists had yet discovered the value of Fab-Ri-Ko-Na 
as a background for pictures and statuary.” 

“ I am fortunate in being able to answer in the affirma- 
tive for one studio — my own — and for our recent exhibition. 
The hall was draped with Fab-Ri-Ko-Na, and the effect 
was greatly admired. Some of the sales-galleries are also 
adopting it. Assuredly it is bound to make its way 
as a background for works of art.” 

Elverson was making a good impression on the old lady, 
even if his eyes were mostly directed toward the younger 
one. 

“Do you know, sir, how these wall coverings are 
regarded by architects? ” Mrs. Hawthorne asked. 

“It happens that my most intimate friend is an archi- 
tect, and connected with a prominent firm,” Elverson 
replied. “He tells me that the leading men in his line 
regard Fab-Ri-Ko-Na with great favor. They are speci- 
fying it for good houses, not only for the reason that it 
keeps the walls intact, but also because of the rich, 
dignified and thoroughly artistic effects it secures. Wall 
paper has, at the best, a rather hard surface, reflecting 
back the light, while Fab-Ri-Ko-Na has depth into which 
the light seems to sink, giving a peculiarly soothing effect 
1o the eye. For these reasons, and because it is proof 
against germs and vermin, Fab-Ri-Ko-Na is being speci- 
fied for office and school buildings, and for all sorts of 
places of general assembly.” 

“How does the cost of it compare with that of wall 
paper? ” Alicia inquired. 

“O, as to that,” said Elverson, “it costs no more than 
the best grades of wall paper, and, when you consider 
that it preserves the walls, that it cannot easily be marred 
by contact with furniture, or by the many bumps and 
scratches that walls are heir to, and that it can be restained 
at small cost if it grows dim from age or dust, it is really 
an economy.” 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


i7 


* 4 Doesn’t it fade? ” asked Alicia. 

“ Fade! ” ejaculated the old lady. “ Everything fades 
if you give it time enough. Look at me, for example! ” 
Her Jaugh took all suggestion of bitterness from the 
words. 

“ It’s true,” assented Elverson, “that all things fade, 
but some fade sooner than others. The Fab-Ri-Ko-Na 
dyes are the most permanent made. The goods, as I 
happen to know, are all sun-tested before leaving the 
mills.” 

“Well, children,” said Mrs. Hawthorne, rising as she 
spoke, “I must ask you to excuse me now until dinner. 
I hope it will be convenient for you to dine with us this 
evening, Mr. Elverson.” 

“You are very kind, Mrs. Hawthorne, and I really 
regret that an engagement to go sailing to-night deprives 
me of the pleasure of accepting your invitation.” 
Elverson’s regret was evidently sincere. 

“Well, any night that you can spare us will do. We 
are quiet folks here, and my son is seldom away from me. 
Come in when you can.” 

When they were left alone, Elverson suggested to 
Alicia that they go down to the beach, and she assented. 
A little beyond the new pier they found a cosy place on 
some rocks that were just out of the reach of the spray, and 
seated themselves. They had spoken but a few words 
during their walk, and now sat for a time in a sort of 
embarrassed silence. Finally Elverson, looking wistfully 
into Alicia’s face, broke the silence. 

“Does this remind you of anything Alicia?” 

4 ‘Yes, very strongly.” 

“Will you tell me what it is? ” 

“Gladly, — that is if I can get it clearly in mind. Let 
me see, — it reminds me of, — O yes! of how 

‘ The Walrus and the Carpenter 
Walked on a mile or so, 

And then they rested on a rock 
Conveniently low ; 

And all the little Oysters stood 
And waited in a row.’ ” 

‘ ‘ O, come ! ” don’t be perverse, ” said Elverson. ‘ ‘ May 
I tell you of what this reminds me?” 

“You may, if you think best, but I’m quite sure it 
won’t be as interesting or to the point as the story of 
‘The Walrus and the Carpenter!'” Alicia spoke teas- 
ingly, but the color deepened in her cheeks. 

“The Walrus and the Carpenter be— bio wed! Let me 


18 The House of the Honeymoon. 

tell you about it. This water spreading out before us 
reminds me of a beautiful lake — ” 

“ ‘Whose rippling waters shall syllable but thy name, 
Pauline! ’ ” murmured Alicia. “ Go on, Melnotte. I will 
be the Lady of Lyons.” 

“Please don’t interrupt me with such nonsense,” said 
Elverson, almost pleadingly. “Pm not in a mood for 
such things. I am thinking of a summer day when a boy 
and a girl sat on a rock beside a lake, under the shade of 
a great willow whose roots could scarcely find soil enough 
for nourishment. I remember how they talked of the 
future, and of their dreams as to what it would bring. I 
remember how he declared that some day he would be an 
artist, going to the old world to sit at the feet of £reat 
masters, and coming back to his native land after many 
years laden with prizes, to claim what would ever be 10 
him the greatest prize of all. I remember how she turned 
her little face to him with a look of tender encouragement, 
and how he put his arms around her — ” 

“What a naughty boy! ” 

“And kissed her, and she kissed him — ” 

“ The bold little minx! ” 

“And told him she believed in him, and loved him, and 
would be his faithful little friend until he claimed his 
prize.” 

“Wasn’t that charming childishness! ” 

“The years have passed, and he has returned to his 
native land, a boy no longer, but a man.” 

“And she, I suppose, is probably a woman? ” 

“ A beautiful woman.” 

“Oh! ” 

“ The years were long — ” 

“ In which he forgot to write to her? ” 

“He didn’t forget.” 

“ Then he wilfully neglected her? ” 

‘‘He had many struggles — ” 

“And she, of course, had smooth sailing? Didn’t have 
to earn her own living, or fight for a foothold in her chosen 
field?” 

“ Now, Alicia! ” 

“Now, Walter! ” 

“He has won his many prizes — ” 

“And the wilfully neglected ‘greatest prize? ’ ” 

“ He hopes to win.” 

“Did he ever hear what happened to Brady’s calf when 
Brady neglected to shelter it through a cold winter’s 
night?” 


He Hopes to Win. 



\ 


I 



20 The House of the Honeymoon. 

“ I think not. ” 

“ It froze to death.” 

“Alicia, I am sorry — ” 

“ So was Brady, but it made no difference to the calf. 
There comes the boat, and Mr. Hawthorne will be on it. 
I must hurry back to the house. He will expect his paid 
assistant to be on hand and earning her salary. Will you 
go with me? ” 

“Yes, — but, Alicia, let me say — ” 

“ Say what you will, Walter,” interrupted Alicia, look- 
ing him squarely in the eyes with- an expression not to be 
misinterpreted; “ only remember that the calf died, and 
stayed dead. ” 

So he said nothing, and they parted at the terrace with 
a brief “good night.” 


CHAPTER IV. 

The moon rose in glorious fullness that evening, and 
the great restless waters seemed soothed until their 
heaving was like the breathing of a sleeping child. Mis. 
Hawthorne was not feeling well, and retired to her room 
directly after dinner. Her son saw to her comfort with 
his usual solicitous tenderness, and then came out to 
where Alicia sat, her thoughts busy with the experience 
of the afternoon. “ Miss Flemming, ” said Hawthorne, “ I 
have a sail-boat lying idle at the anchorage. I seldom 
get time to go out. Would you enjoy a little sail in the 
moonlight? I think you may trust my ability as a sailor. 
It is one of my few accomplishments.” 

Alicia got some wraps, and they went down to where 
the little sloop lay gracefully rocking to and fro, accepting 
the gentle but firm restraint of her anchor as serenely as 
a happy wife accepts the restraints of her wifely duty. 

On the way, and after they were moving out over the 
moon-lit water, Hawthorne told Alicia of his plans for the 
morrow. She was to go to the city with him, and he 
was to take her to a decorating firm through whom he 
would have the proposed work done. He would leave her 
there to go over with them the question of materials and 
designs. He would call for her about noon, and after 


The House of the Honeymoon. 21 

lunch they would return to Wavecrest on an early boat to 
report to his mother the results of her interview. All this 
he told, with details not essential to this record. 

Shifting from business, he described to her the rigging 
of the boat, explained the names and functions of the 
sails, had her take hold of the wheel with him that he 
might show her how to steer, gave her illustrations cf the 
art of tacking, and in a straightforward, manly way made 
himself very interesting and agreeable. 

Alicia talked little, merely enough to show her intelli- 
gent appreciation of his kind efforts. Was she watching 
him, and contrasting his strong steady manner with the 
impetuous, changeful, self-conscious manner of somebody 
else? And to a heart weary with a lonely struggle for 
subsistence and success, did the firm, confident poise of 
this business-like man have an attraction difficult to resist? 

It was certainly a beautiful night. The day had been 
very warm, buc nearly cloudless, and now the moon reigned 
the unchallenged queen in an almost opalescent heavens. 
When Hawthorne and Alicia sailed out from the anchorage 
there was barely wind enough to give them motion, but, 
in half an hour it had shifted to the northwest, and was 
steadily growing in strength. 

It was interesting to Alicia to see how the spirits of 
Hawthorne seemed to rise with the rising of the wind. 
As the sails of the graceful Anita strained and swelled, 
and her sharp prow cut through the white-capped waves 
with ever-swiftening speed, Hawthorne seemed to become 
quite another man. He who had seldom more than 
smiled, even under the strongest provocation, now laughed 
outright, a hearty, ringing laugh, at Alicia’s feeblest 
attempts to joke, or at his own occasional sallies of wit. 
Sitting close beside her, his eye never losing sight of the 
minutest detail of his sailor duty, controlling with fault- 
less precision every movement of the flying craft, he 
appeared to her the very embodiment of one of the ancient 
heroes of salt water romance. She could imagine him to 
be a remote descendent of some savage old Viking; and 
she could fancy them both back in that far-off time, he 
having snatched her from her stem father’s halls, repeat- 
ing the story of which the poet dreamed in the verse that 
flashed through her thoughts, filling her with a feeling 
akin to awe: 

“ As with his wings aslant, 

Sails the fierce Cormorant, 

Seeking some rocky haunt, 

With his prey laden, — 


22 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


So toward the open main, 

Beating to sea again, 

Through the wild hurricane 
Bore I the maiden.” 

And, with the fancy strong upon her, she could imagine 
that any maiden would be willing to have a Viking like 
him bear her away, it made little difference to what rocky 
haunt. 

As the wind continued to rise, and the wind-clouds 
gathered in the sky, Hawthorne, instead of running out 
beyond the Hook, as had been his intention, beat across 
toward Staten Island, and then brought Anita about on 
the reach for home. 

They were still more than a mile from the anchorage, 
scudding along without a reef, despite the now half gale, 
when both were startled by a cry of “ Help! ” which came 
to them faintly through the hissing of the wind. The 
moon was for the moment under a cloud, and they could 
not tell from what direction the appeal came. In a few 
seconds the cloud had passed, and Hawthorne standing 
up and scanning the tumbling waves with a quick glance, 
saw a dark object lifted into view about a quarter of a 
mile to the east. A swift turn of the wheel and a shift of 
the sail threw the Anita about, and the light racer flew to 
the rescue as though she knew her mission, or was inspired 
by the urgent spirit of her master. 

Fast as Anita flew, the moments were heart-breakingly 
long to Alicia, with those constantly repeated cries ring- 
ing in her ears. Hawthorne shouted words of encourage- 
ment. When they finally drew near enough, Hawthorne 
and she discovered that the dark object was the upturned 
keel of a boat, and that the cries came from four men 
who were clinging to the plunging wreck, their hold 
threatened every moment by the huge waves that broke 
over them. 

Hawthorne brought the Anita under the lee of the 
wreck and dropped the mainsail, entrusting the wheel to 
Alicia with a hurried instruction as to how to hold the 
sloop close to the wind. Flinging a noosed rope across 
the wreck he quickly drew one of the men to safety. 
Then another, and yet another, followed. When the rope 
was thrown to the remaining figure, he made no effort to 
seize it, and it was evident that he was benumbed almost 
to the point of unconsciousness, and was simply clinging 
with a dumb despair to his precarious hold. It took 
Hawthorne but an instant to decide. Flinging off his 
outer garments, and almost tearing the shoes from his 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


23 


feet, he put the rope about him, bade the half-dazed 
rescued men to hold it, and, unheeding the cry Alicia 
could not repress, sprang into the raging water, and 
begin the battle for another’s life as well as his own. 

Of the ensuing moments Alicia has but a dim remem- 
brance. She did not fail in her duty, standing firmly 
to the wheel, and holding the struggling Anita as 
steady as she could; but her eyes were shadowed by a 
m st, and her brain whirled in an unspeakable darkness, 
until she I eard the men cry “ He has got him! ” and saw 
them drawing m the rope. A moment later, when the 
men after a hard struggle drew the two dripping figures 
over the side, she felt a sudden faintness, and leaning 
down upon the wheel, burst into hysterical sobs. 

Leav.ng the unconscious man to the care of his corn- 
pan ons, Hawthorne struggled with the sail until it was 
again sheeted home, then relieved Alicia, and gave the 
Anita her head. Alic a staggered forward to see if she 
could assist the rescued, and was horrified to discover 
that the dripping, unconscious form, was that of the man 
who had sat beside her on the rock that afternoon. 

It was, indeed, Elverson ! 

When they ran in under the shelter of the pier, they 
found that the cries for help had been heard even that 
la”, and that the work of rescue had been watched by 
anxious crowds. A doctor was at hand, and began at 
once the effort to restore Elverson to consciousness. It 
was nearly an hour before he succeeded, and then Elvt r- 
son was carried awav to the Belvidere, where he was 
staying, while, having seen the Anita duly anchored, 
Hawthorne and Alicia, — who had retused to leave him, — 
made their way home. Both were silent until Alicia 
asked : 

“ How did they come to be wrecked? ” 

“ They were land-lubber sailors, and took fool chances,” 
answered Hawthorne grimly. 

“You were a brave man,” ventured Alicia, again, as 
they reached the terrace steps. 

“You were a brave girl,” was the laconic reply. 

Mrs. Hawthorne was asleep, and happily unconscious 
of the two bedraggled figures that entered the house. 
When the story was told her in a humorous way the next 
morning, all the more serious features were omitted. 


24 The House of the Honeymoon. 

CHAPTER V. 

Before going to the boat on their way to New York the 
next morning, Hawthorne and Alicia called at the Belvi- 
dere to learn how El verson had passed the night. He 
insisted on having them come to his room, and they found 
him propped up in bed greatly prostrated by the shock of 
his perilous adventure. His nerves were very much 
unstrung, and at the sight of his visitors he wept like a 
child. His attempts to thank them for his rescue were 
pitifully hysterical and incoherent. 

Alicia felt truly sorry for him, and her tears could not 
be restrained ; but was it a touch of inexplicable perversity 
that forced upon her, even at that moment, a sense of 
the» contrast between the tear-stained, twitching face of 
Elverson, and the strong, tender face of the man who 
bent over the sufferer with reassuring words? She felt 
astonished, and ashamed as she became conscious of the 
direction her thoughts were taking. Still she could not 
shake off their influence. When Elverson seized the hand 
she gave him in parting, and bent over it with passionate 
tears and kisses, she tore it from his grasp and almost 
fled from the room. 

During the boat-trip to the city Alicia remained in the 
cabin, dreading to look upon the scene of last night’s 
struggle, though the wind had blown itself out, and the 
sun was shining on the gradually subsiding waters. 
Hawthorne stayed with her, and diverted her thoughts by 
recounting the program for the day. When they reached 
the city he accompanied her to the decorating establish- 
ment of the Messrs. White, Wall & Co., where, having 
made an appointment, they found Mr. Wall in waiting. 
He was a man of middle age, with an alert eye, and a 
quick, snappy manner that gave promise of wide-awake 
business judgments and methods. 

“ Burlap? ” he said in his high-pitched, aggressive tone. 
“To be sure we use burlap. We have used it for years. 
Nothing like it. They give it a bad name in some shops. 
But, why? I’ll tell you. See that ring? ” holding out his 
hand. “My wife gave me that on my birthday. Saw it 
in a window, went in and looked at it, liked it, was 
assured it was ‘genuine,’ bought it, paying goodness 
knows how much, enough anyhow to get the real article. 
I don’t dare let her see the inside of it, and don’t dare 
leave it off. Looked all right at first, — but now! ” and he 
smiled a sarcastic smile, and waved his hands with an 
expressive motion. 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


25 


“ That’s the case with burlap. Some of it is a regular 
gold-brick proposition. Looks as good as the best, but, — ” 
and again the expressive hands were waved. 

“The fact is," he continued, “with burlap, as with 
everything else, there’s only one best, and it don’t pay to 
bother with anything else. The cost is about the same, 
but the value is mighty different. If you undertake to 
use burlap, use Fab-Ri-Ko-Na. Let me show it to you.” 
And he started toward the salesroom. 

“ If you will excuse me, ” said Hawthorne, “ I will leave 
you and Miss Flemming to settle the matter of materials, 
while I look after my business affairs. I will try to be 
here again by noon, and you can have the whole house 
fitted out by that time, I suppose.” 

When Hawthorne was gone, Mr. Wall had several rolls 
of the Fab-Ri-Ko-Na goods brought to his office, and 
opened for Alicia’s inspection. 

“You see,” remarked the decorator, as he spread the 
different textures before her, “that Fab-Ri-Ko-Na means 
more than burlap. These,” pointing to certain rolls, “are 
specimens of the burlap wall coverings, and they’re 
beauties, too. Notice what a perfect finish these people 
get. The best of it is that the finish remains. Don’t 
leave for parts unknown as soon as the goods are on the 
wall. See that color,” indicating a handsome green; 
“ why, I know rooms that I put just such a green on five 
years ago, and I’ll give my word they’re just as bright to- 
day as when I did them.” 

Alicia examined the goods carefully. She greatly 
admired the rich tones of the burlaps, and their decorative 
possibilities appealed to her very strongly. 

“What sort of backing is this,” she asked, turning the 
wrong side toward them. 

“ Huh! ” said Mr. Wall, and laughed a staccato sort of 
laugh. “If I knew the secret of that I could quit the 
decorating business. Lots of people would like to know 
it. Some have thought they did know it, but Think-so is 
generally a fool. Their Think-so cost themselves and 
the decorating trade a heap of money and trouble.” 

“ But what is there special about this backing? ” 

“You mean what makes it specially valuable? ” 

Alicia nodded. 

‘ ‘ Several things. Fills the goods, for one thing. Gives 
firm body to the fabric. All the space between the 
threads is filled. Then it is made expressly to facilitate 
pasting. It takes ordinary flour paste easily, . but don’t 
let it soak through to the surface, and when the goods 


26 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


are put on the walls sticks them there until they really 
become a part of the wall itself. A piece of goods backed 
by that backing is like an enterprise backed by 
millions — it means business. Has gct-there and stay- 
there to it. 

“Now that,” said Mr. Wall, spreading out his fingers 
ready to count on them ; “that gives us how many things 
in favor of Fab-Ri-Ko-Na backing? Gives body to the 
goods — one; pastes easily with flour past' — two; stays 
stuck when you stick it — that’s three. But that’s not all. 
With this backing the edges of the goods can be trimmed 
to a .true line after the paste is on, and they won’t swell 
when wet nor shrink when dry. That, you see would 
make the butted joints open, which mars the whole job. 
Then, the fact that the mesh of the fabric is thoroughly 
filled prevents the wall showing through as it does when 
a flimsier goods is used, and leaves no places where dust 
can lodge or vermin hide. See? ” 

“But,” ventured Alicia, “how about germs? What 
you say about dust and vermin made me think of disease 
germs.” 

“The germ that lands on Fab-Ri-Ko-Na meets his 
fate,” Mr. Wall replied, emphatically, bringing his hands 
together with a significant slap. “The genius who 
prepared the matter for this sample-book writes that the 
goods are ‘thoroughly impregnated with an odorless, non- 
poisonous antiseptic preparation ’ which is fatal to germs. 
The medical people are satisfied on that score.” 

“ How wide are these goods made? ” Alicia asked. 

^“Yard, yard and a half, two and three yards. The 
very wide goods are coming into demand for certain work 
because they can be run around the room in one solid 
piece, with a single joint in a corner where it can’t be 
noticed or picked at. Of course the joints don’t show 
much when the goods are hung in strips, but the wide 
goods are a great thing, and make a beautiful wall. With 
a da lo at the bottom, or a frieze at the top, or some form of 
wh .t we call a two-thirds treatment, they are, in fact, the 
bjst thing that ever happened in the wall cover line.” 

“What sort of dadoes or friezes do you use in connec- 
tion with these goods?” was Alicia’s next query. 

“There are two sorts we can use. The manufacturers 
produce print goods of highly artistic designs, and we 
often use them. They make a fine finish. The only 
drawback is that there must be a limit to the designs and 
the color combinations. We get a wider range in another 
way. The Fab-Ri-Ko-Na people are the makers of the 


The House 'Of the Honeymoon. 27 

Ko-Na-Colors you have seen advertised. These are 
water-colors made from the same -dyes used in coloring 
the fabrics. The colors are mixed in a compound invents d 
expressly for them, and are out of sight ahead of any 
other colors for use on fabric surfaces. With these colors, 
and the new form of double stencils now being made, we 
can produce dadoes, panels or friezes of any possible 
design, and in any possible combination of colors. A 
great advantage in this is that we can secure perfect unity 
to the color scheme of a room or suite of rooms, carrying 
out in the frieze, the dado or the panel, the design motive 
and the color effects in carpets, rugs, furniture or 
draperies. Any design which is not approximated in the 
ready-made stencils, we can make or have made, and any 
blend of colors, no matter how intricate or delicate, can 
be reproduced with the Ko-Na-Colors. Great scheme, 
isn’t it? ” 

“ It certainly is,” admitted Alicia. 

“ You ought to see just what can be done to a room 
with these wall coverings and colors. A music room, for 
instance, can be stenciled with these colors in panels that 
co tain the busts of great composers, or classic emblems 
relating to the art. A library may have on walls and 
ceiling the portraits of authors, or other appropriate 
designs. A den can be decorated with birds, beasts or 
fishes, with guns, nets or any old thing referring to the 
sports of the human male animal. If one cares to, he can 
make a room the centre of a woodland, or a flower garden, 
by stenciling the trees and shrubs artistically on the walls. 
Or, think what a charming ingle nook one could fashion. 
The scope is as broad as the imagination chooses to make it. ” 

“Well,” said Alicia, after a thoughtful moment, “I 
didn’t dream of the possibilities in these goods. I 
thought them simply a passing fad. But, I suppose we 
ought, as soon as possible, to decide on a color scheme for 
the house. Have you and Mrs. Hawthorne consulted as 
to that? ” 

Mr. Wall threw himself back in his chair, twinkled at 
Alicia through half-closed eyes, and bubbled for a moment 
with a repressed merriment which finally broke bounds 
and became a high, sharp laugh. 

“Excuse me,” he said, when he recovered himself. 
“Fine old lady, that. Sharp. Got ideas. Say,” and he 
leaned forward toward Alicia in a confidential way, “do 
you know, she actually put me on to some wrinkles in my 
own business that I never got next to before. Really, 
she did. Asked me questions that stumped me. Sug- 


28 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


gested things that made me feel like kicking myself to 
think I’d never had sense enough to find them out for 
myself. The fact is, I suppose, that some of us are too 
busy doing the few things we know, to get much time to 
learn new things. We think in ruts. Our methods get 
to be habits. As we gi*>w older we get worse in that 
respect. Perfectly natural, but not progressive. Why, 
it took me five years to see the real merit and value of 
the very goods I’ve been showing you. Would you think 
me such an old fossil? ” 

Alicia laughed, and shook herdiead. 

“ But, about this color scheme business. The old lady 
and I talked the matter over pretty thoroughly, and I’ve 
made some rough drawings in perspective, which give a 
general idea of what we decided on.” 

Mr. Wall went to a cabinet and took down several rolls 
which he spread out on his desk. 

“This,” said he, pointing to one, “is for the down- 
stairs rooms. It gives the hall, and glimpses of the 
drawing-room, the library and the dining-room 

“ Now,” he continued, “we had to take into considera- 
tion the situation and surroundings of the house. It 
stands in the open. It has plenty of light. It is in the 
middle of a lawn, and not far from it are the trees which 
the woodman’s axe has spared. During a lai^e part of 
the year the house is surrounded with the deep green of 
the trees, and the vivid green of the grass, and flooded 
with strong sunlight. We have to imagine ourselves 
going into the house, with all this mass of light and color 
affecting our eyes, — and our feelings. We don’t want too 
great a contrast all at once, nor colorings that are too 
striking. In the city houses, where the street colors are 
mostly neutral, or smoked or dusted to a depressing tone, 
the interiors should be more strikingly colored, to stimu- 
late the depressed senses. 

“ In this case we go in from the vivid greens outdoors 
to the subdued green of this hallway. We retain the 
same color because the eye holds it, and cannot pass from 
it at a single step without a certain sense of shock or an 
unpleasant stimulus. You know the hall is a very special 
part of the house, for visitors get their first impressions 
here, and first impressions count. This light, neutral 
green, which is No. 130 in the sample book, makes just 
the right change from the outdoor effect to prepare us for 
the greater change we meet in the drawing-room, which, 
you see, we have made a terra-cotta, using this, No. 105. 

“The color tone is now raised a little, and we are 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


2 9 


prepared for the glimpse we get of the library, with its 
deep red walls. The dining-room, you will notice is in 
a golden brown. 

“There are reasons for the choice of these colors. 
First of all, they harmonize. Standing here in the hall, 
and catching a view of the rooms as a group, we find that 
the four colors blend perfectly, satisfying one’s sense of 
fitness. The reason for the green hall we have already 
discussed. The terra-cotta of the dining-room was 
selected not merely for its fitness as a neighbor color 
to the green, and a happy intermediate between the 
green and the red, but also because of its value as 
a decorative color for that particular room. It is an 
unobtrusive color, but conveys a sense of cheerfulness. 
It goes well with almost any of the polished natural 
woods, except those that are too deeply tinged with 
yellow. It forms a delicate background for the styles 
of furniture and furnishings usually selected for the 
drawing-room, and it sets off most admirably the 
pictures and draperies. Carpets or rugs to harmonize 
with it are easily found. Last of all, but very important, 
it may be worked on with the decorative stencilings 
so as to produce really exquisite effects. 

“The red in the library is this deep red, No. 143. As 
Mrs. Hawthorne has book-cases in mahogany which are 
very dear to her on account of early associations, and 
wishes to install them in the new house, we chose this 
red to set them off, and to give the room the cosy cheer- 
fullness which a library should have. It will be the social 
room, much used in the evening when the family gathers 
by the long centre-table to read or to write or to chat, and 
this color lights up finely. Then it is second to none as 
a background for pictures or statuary, or the knick-knacks 
that gather in such a room. On an autumn or winter 
evening, when the hearth-fire is lighted, and the chairs 
are drawn around in a cosy circle, one could hardly imagine 
a more pleasant room than this, with its red walls, its 
darker book cases filled with books in varied bindings, its 
paintings and statuary and draperies— but gracious me! 
I'm running dangerously near to poetry. Better let you 
imagine it for yourself. In this house there will be one 
thing lacking, unless the young man takes steps to 
supply it.” 

“What is that?” asked Alicia innocently, too intent on 
business to see the point. 

“Why, a young woman, of course,” said Mr. Wall, 
“unless,” he added, significantly, “unless you are likely 


36 The House of the Honeymoon. 

to be a permanent part of the establishment.” 

Alicia blushed in spite of her efforts not to. 

“You needn’t count on me,” she said. “I’m only hired 
for the occasion. When the house is finished and fur- 
nished I will go back to my bachelor-maid quarters, and 
be forgotten.” 

“Bachelor-maid quarters!” exclaimed Mr, Wall, with 
almost a snort of contempt. “You were never designed 
for a bachelor-maid. Unless the young men of your 
acquaintance are wanting in eyes or brains or hearts, you 
will be some day asked to give up your quarters for a 
better half.” At which far-fetched pun the amiable 
decorator laughed immoderately. 

“Are you a prophet? ” asked Alicia mischievously. 

“Prophet! and in the decorating business! In these 
days, Miss Flemming there’s little chance for a profit in 
our line of trade.” And again Mr. Wall enjoyed his own 
wit immensely. 

Then they went back to the color scheme question. 

“This dining-room, now,” said Mr. Wall, “is in a 
golden brown, No. 152 in the sample-book. It is a color 
that is neither too somber nor too gay. It goes well with 
dining-room furniture, and when a plate-rail is used for 
the display of fancy bits of crockery it makes a most 
artistic contrast. A dining room shouldn’t be made too 
strikingly colored. It should be cheerful in a neutral 
way. The persons at the table form the central feature, 
and the work of eating should be modified by the play of 
wit and fancy.” 

“ What do you propose to put on the ceilings of these 
rooms,” inquired Alicia. 

“The ceil ng problem varies in different houses,” 
replied Mr. Wall, “but in this house we solve it in what 
is generally the most satisfactory way. Here is a prepared 
canvas.” — and he showed it to her from the sample 
book, — “which we will use in all the rooms. It is a 
neutral white, and makes a fine smooth surface which can 
be tinted with any desired color, and lends itself splen- 
didly to decorative stenciling. It is usually the most 
effective and satisfactory ceiling cover. ” 

“For kitchen or bath-room walls the goods may be gone 
over with an enamel paint, which makes them perfectly 
water-proof and washable, without altogether destroying 
the fabric appearance of the surface. This can also be 
done in the nursery if thought best, though I am person- 
ally of the opinion that the soft surface is better, and that 
it should be ornamented with the charming stencilings. 


The House of the Honeymoon. 31 

There are a lot of special designs for such a room, designs 
th j children will delight in. I have a theory that children 
should be surrounded from babyhood by as much bright- 
ness and beauty as the parents can afford. I think it 
tends to refinement and culture. The nursery at my 
house is gorgeous to behold.” 

After spending a few more minutes in examining the 
goods already selected, Mr. Wall, glancing at his watch, 
said : v 

“Now, Miss Flemming, it happens that my men are 
just finishing a house within a few blocks of here, and we 
will have ample time to take a look at it and get back 
before Mr. Hawthorne calls for you. As we have used 
Fab-Ri-Ko-Na throughout the house, you can get a good 
idea as to what the effects are. It will be of more help 
to you than hours of description.” 

So Alicia accompanied the decorator, and was well 
repaid for so doing. When she saw actually before her 
the work she had .tried to imagine, she realized what no 
description could possibly convey. When they returned 
to the store, she was an enthusiastic convert to the 
Fab-Ri-Ko-Na system of wall covering, and, as they ate 
their restaurant-lunch, greatly amused Mr. Hawthorne 
with the views she expressed on the subject. Her 
appreciation of Mr. Wall was equally hearty, and her gay 
imitations of the decorator’s tone and manner were highly 
entertaining. 

Gradually, however, Hawthorne endeavored to turn the 
conversation another way. He was naturally a reserved 
sort of fellow, but Alicia seemed to bring him out to a 
degree which surprised him, and which would have sur- 
prised her had she known him better. He had always 
been the reverse of a “ladies’ man,” and his mother was, 
indeed, the only woman with whom he had ever been on 
terms of comradeship. Until the death of his father his 
allowance of money had been so little above actual 
expenses that he had kept out of the social circles in which 
he might have qvercome his diffidence. Since taking up 
tbs business, he had found little time for social relaxation, 
as his days were fully occupied with busine>s cares, while 
his evenings were devoted to his mother, who, as her 
strength declined, leaned ever more heavily on him. 

Then, Alicia was what seemed to him a peculiar type 
of woman, belonging to a class of which he had known 
almost nothing, but which had always a facination for his 
imagination. She was a writer! She actually wrote 
things that were printed and paid for! A young woman 


32 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


with whom he could talk without feeling overawed, and 
who talked to him as if she found no deficiencies in his 
conversation, — she a writer, — a person who could sit 
down with a pencil and bit of paper, and without hesita- 
tion express her knowledge or opinion on almost any 
subject! 

Hawthorne had the same high appreciation of this 
ability to express things which is felt by the majority of 
people. The gift of expression has not become common 
property even yet, though of the making of books and 
papers there L no end, and hundreds scribble now who 
never did before, while those who long have written, now 
write more. He had approached Alicia’s studio door with 
reluctance and dread; he had been relieved to find the 
“literary woman” a very simple, unaffected, easy- 
mannered, business-like person ; and, as his acquaintance 
with her developed, he was constantly more pleased and 
charmed by companionship with this young lady of what 
seemed to him such rare gifts. 

He was interested. He wished to know more about 
her. He determined to learn from her own lips whatever 
she felt free to disclose to him. So he managed to divert 
the conversation into a more personal channel. He made 
the first move by asking a very frank and direct question. 

“Do you enjoy your work in life, Miss Flemming? 
Does it satisfy you? ” 

Alicia looked at him keenly for an instant. The fact is 
that their situation had for the moment made her recall 
the playful suggestions of the decorator about her future. 
Bachelor-maid ! Surely it was nice to be independent, 
and free to follow one’s own individual bent. But, 
sitting there at that little table, screened from obstrusive 
eyes, furnished with the good things of life without 
the need for economy, and having every possible wish 
anticipated by this quiet, unassuming but clear-eyed and 
clear-brained young man, Alicia had yielded to the influ- 
ence of the situation, and had acknowledged to herself 
that comradeship of this kind might furnish satisfaction 
not to be found in the independent existence. With these 
thoughts in mind, the question Hawthorne asked seemed 
peculiarly pointed. But, when she looked into his frank 
eyes she saw nothing there but a sympathetic interest in 
her and her work. 

“Yes,” she answered. “I enjoy my work, — enjoy it 
very much. As for satisfaction, though, I’m not so sure. 
Did you ever see a perfectly satisfied person? ” 

“I think I failed to give you my meaning,” said 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


33 


Hawthorne, who, having noticed Alicia’s slight hesitation 
before answering him, and not understanding it, was just 
a little puzzled to know what it meant. “ I didn’t intend 
to ask if you were at present satisfied with your lot, but 
if you felt satisfied with your profession, — satisfied that it 
offered you the opportunities you needed, and that it 
promised suitable rewards? ” 

That was the beginning of a conversation too long to 
fully record. We know how unexpectedly and even 
unaccountably we drift in conversation from one subject 
to another, either getting all the time nearer the surface 
of things if the companion is uninspiring or uncongenial, 
or getting down deeper and deeper into the very heart of 
things of the warmth of a mutual sympathy melts away 
the barriers of reserve, and induces timid confidence to 
come from her hiding-place. 

What a memorable chat that was ! At first Alicia play- 
fully fenced with Hawthorne, trying to ward off his 
pointed inquiries without offending him. When she 
found that he was very seriously inclined, and very 
sympathetic, she gradually fell into his mood, and gave 
him glimpses of her life and its peculiar experiences. 

So freely and fully did she disclose herself, that 
Hawthorne could see, as if in Memory’s glass, the high- 
spirited little girl, petted by parents and friends; the 
eager school-miss, eager for books, for frolic and for 
friendship; the ambitious young woman, suddenly and 
terribly stripped of home and income, going bravely into 
the battle for bread, and, in an excess of sensitiveness, 
cutting clear from her former friends and companions, 
intending never to renew the old ties until she could do 
so without being thought to need their pity or their help. 
The bitter disappointments, the days of actual want, the 
lonely illnesses, the occasional insults, the gradual con- 
quest of conditions, and the final partial victory, — all 
these were disclosed to him, broadly outlined, and lighted 
by many diverting descriptions or gay comments. 

In response to this, he, too, drew out of the past the 
chief lines of his own story, revealing to her the “old- 
fashioned ” boy, made more old-fashioned by his constant 
association with his mother, to the almost complete 
exclusion of child companions; the thoughtful, studious, 
repressed youth, feeling keenly his father’s penuriousness, 
his mother’s unsatisfied longings for more liberty and 
beauty in her life, and his own helplessness, except as he 
took advantage of his chance for education and prepared 
himself for an independent future; holidays spent in the 


34 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


business, and used to good purpose, giving him prepara- 
tion for the responsibilities which fell suddenly upon 
him and which he was now bearing with a reasonable 
degree of success; his diffidence and frequent loneliness, 
his dread of the not distant day when his mother would 
leave him ; his rather bitter sense of the wr ng of a fate 
that witheld money from him and his mother at the time 
when they might have enjoyed it, and thrust it upon them 
in abundance when it was no longer of special worth, — 
all this and more Hawthorne disclosed, being led on 
beyond all reserve by the unflagging interest and 
unfeigned sympathy of Alicia. 

This conversation lasted them through lunch, through 
the carriage-r.de to the boat, through the hours sail to 
Wavecrest; and was at last so suddenly 1 roken off that 
it would remain ready to be renewed at any time. 

Strange to s y, both participants, on reaching their 
respective dress ng-rooms, went through much the same 
performance. Hawth rne entered his room slowly, shut 
the door with an absent air, stood in the middle of the 
room for son e minutes, L oking very intently at a gro- 
tesque face cut in C'>coanut fibre which ornamented cr 
deformed his cigar-holdt r, though it is certain he did not 
know at what he was staring. Then he went to the 
mirror, beheld his reflection in the glass, nodded his head 
at ir, and i d dressed it thus: 

“Well, old fellow, why not? you certainly would look 
more comfortable if she stood beside you, and your arm 
was around her waist, and her head was resting on your 
shoulder. Don’t you think so? Of course you do. A 
fellow as sensible looking as you couldn’t ti ink differently. 
If we only knew how the land lay — whether that artist 
chap is liable t o be an obstacle or not ! But, we will wait 
and watch. If the decorating job holds out as they 
usually do, we are good for two months together, at any 
rate.’' 

As for Alic a, she sat down, hat, gloves and all; eat 
down in the low locker by the front window, where she 
could look o it over the bay. 

“Now, Alicia Flemming,” she began, addressing that 
young lady w, th some severity, “I would like to know 
what possessed you! You have j st about turned y our- 
self inside out to a man who was a total stranger to you 
less than a week age’ You must be growing feeble- 
minded. O, you needn’t argue that he did the same, and 
t*»at it was only a fair exchange of confidences. That’s 
no argument at all. Tak_ notice, too, young lady that 


The House of the Honeymoon. 35 

you carefully avoided 3 eference to a certa’n painter chap, 
of his early devotion, or ot hi 1 suddenly revived ardor. 
Don’t you wonder whether the*e may not he an offsetting 
reservation on the other side, some young woman much 
handsomer, richer and more brilliant than you? And 
what will \ou do with Elver^on?” 

And so she sat, holding c ommunion with herself, for- 
getful oc all else, until she heard him go down the stairs 
to meet h s mother who, a- the g inding carriage- wheels 
gave notice, was just coming in from a ride, though the 
porte co here was at ‘the side of the house, and out of 
A1 c a’s sight. 

Then Mis- Flemming hurriedly re reshed herself, ex- 
changed her walking-dress for a flimsy something suitable 
for the warm afternoon, made an e tra dab or two beyond 
her 1 sual attention to her appearance, and hurried down 
to join mother and son on the veranda. 


CHAPTER VI. 

It was delightful to see the pleasure in the face of old 
M s. Hawthorne as she listened to Alicia’s confession of 
her Fab-Ri-Ko-Na conversion. Which goes to show that 
she possessed, with the rest of us, the instinct for making 
converts which gives zest to the art of the orator, inspires 
the lawyer as he pleads before court and jury, kindles the 
fervor of the editor appealing to the reading public, and 
lifts the missionary above the loneliness and privations of 
his 1 te as he goes to and fro among the benighted heathen. 
Perhaps there are few human achievements which fill one 
with so much satisfaction with himself, as to know that 
his opinion has beaten down indifference or opposition, 
and has won a genuine victory. 

Ne t to Alicia’s conve-sion, Mrs. Hawthorne enjoyed 
A 1 cia’s comments on the characteristics of Mr. Wall. 

“Bless the man!” said the old lady, “what a bundle 
of nerves he is. And yet, except for nis suddenness of 
speech and action, he is steady enough. And he knows 
something, too. It’s refreshing, when there’s . c o much 
stnpiditv to contend with, to hnd a man who has a real, 
well-balanced brain. There’s plenty of ability in the 


36 The House of the Honeymoon. 

world, but little balance. Most folks are so heavy on one 
side and so light on the other, that they are forever 
teetering around, and couldn’t keep to a straight line if 
their lives depended on it.” 

“He says he is indebted to you for some valuable 
suggestions, ” remarked Alicia. 

“ Well,” said the gratified old lady, “ I took some pains 
with him at points when I found him deficient.” And 
she leaned back and laughed over the memory of that 
interview. 

Some time later, as they three still sat discussing Alicia’s 
morning with Fab-Ri-Ko-Na, Elverson made his appear- 
ance, looking very much upset, and evidently quite feeble. 
Hawthorne and Alicia were greatly surprised to see him, 
as they had supposed he would be kept in bed for at least 
a few days. They all greeted him warmly, and congratu- 
lated him on his rapid recovery, but expressed their fears 
that his venturing out was imprudent. 

“I suppose it is,” he admitted in a weak tone, and 
flushing highly. “But,” he added, looking down in 
nervous confusion, “ I couldn’t stand being shut up there. 
I knew you folks would be sitting here in this comfortable 
way, and — and — well, it seemed that I simply must be 
with you. ” As he said the last words, he glanced furtively 
up at Alicia, with a look that sent the blood to her cheeks ; 
a look that was not lost upon either Mrs. Hawthorne or 
her son. The latter rose quietly, excused himself on the 
plea that he must see *how things were going at the 
stables, and left them. His mother turned her head away 
until her face was hidden from the young people, and 
then relieved her feelings by puckering up her lips, and 
rubbing her nose rather violently with her fan. 

Conversation was not easy after this unfortunate open- 
ing. Alicia was torn between resentment of Elverson’s 
blunder, which placed her in a false position, and pity for 
his evidently shattered state. Elverson, though not fully 
conscious how greatly he had offended her, realized that 
something was amiss, and was made the more unsettled 
by it. The old lady, not knowing just how matters stood 
between the young couple, suspected that she was some- 
what in the way, and was at first inclined to withdraw; 
but, glancing at Alicia’s face, caught a look upon it which 
determined her to stay and see the matter through for the 
time. * 

One subject after another was opened either by Mrs. 
Hawthorne or Alicia, but each opening led to a no- 
thoroughfare, and was soon brought to a futile conclusion. 


The House of the Honeymoon. 





<• ■ it,: ; 










i. 








y 


V>; 








gpt I 

cm 1 ^ffes 




38 The House of the Honeymoon. 

Elverson’s vocabulary appeared to consist solely of 
monosyllables. He sat there for the most part in a 
gloomy silence, sometimes looking darkly out across the 
water, sometimes dropping his head upon his hands in 
pitiful' weakness, and again, staring straight at Alicia for 
so long a time, ap.d with such appealing despondency, 
that the girl grew almost hysterical in her effort to be 
natural. At laff Mrs. Hawthorne took the matter in her 
own hands, and, rising, said: 

“I’m sorry Mr. El verson, but I’m afraid it is time Miss 
Flemming and I were dressing for dinner. We have it 
a little early to-day, as my son is at home for the after- 
noon Can we induce you to remain and share it with us. ” 

“Not to-day, thank you,” replied Elverson, trying to 
cover with a wan smile his disappointment in not having 
Alicia left with him. “I’m hardly up to condition for 
oming out.” Then, turning to Alicia he said: 

“Cousin Kate Bascom came down to-day, and will stay 
at the Belvidere with me for a week or two. Will it be 
convenient for you and Mr. Hawthorne to join us in a 
little picnic on the bluff to-morrow afternoon? She is 
very anxious to meet you again.” 

“I’m not sure — ” faltered Alicia, turning toward Mrs. 
Hawthorne ns she spoke. 

“Go, by all means, my dear, if you wish to,” said the 
old lady. “I think I can promise for George.” 

Elvei son’s face brightened as he took h s leave. 

“That young man is in an unhappy condition,” said 
Mrs. Hawthorne to Alicia as they entered the house. 
“ He’s a good deal like a stick of dynamite, and must be 
handled with great care. We don’t want any explosions, 
do we, dear? ” and she laid her hand on Ali. ia’s arm with 
a touch of motherly sympathy. Alicia, who had so long 
known nothing of a mother’s care, dropped her troubled 
head upon the old lady’s shoulder, gave one great gasping 
sob, and then fled to her room. George came in just as 
Alicia reached to head of the staff, and his mother led him 
into the library, where for an hour they sat together in 
very serious consultation. When Alicia came down to 
dinne-, the three met as usual, and the events of the 
afternoon were not mentioned, except when Hawthorne 
informed Alicia that he would keep the engagement his 
mother had n.r’e for him. 

Meanwhi e. Elverson had returned to the Belvidere, 
wlr re he found his cousin, and asked her to go to his 
sit ting-room for a chat while he lay down to rest. Miss 
Bascom was a strikingly handsome young womanff a 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


39 


decided blonde, with a complexion like satin, and a full, 
luxurious figure. In feature she showed her kinship to 
Elvers >n, even to the deep blue eyes which, li, e his, had 
in them hints of a smouldering flame likely to burst forth 
should the spirit be stirred too deeply. 

When they we e m his room, and Elverson was 
stretched out on a reclining chair, he startled her by 
s tying in a tune that was almost fierce: 

“ Kate, you’ve got to help me! You have come at the 
very moment I need you.” 

Miss Basjom had seated herself in a rocker, and had 
picked up a book, fancying that Elverson was tired and 
might prefer to be quiet. 

“Why, what is it, Walter, that I can do?” she asked. 
“All >ou need is rest, and freedom from worry. If I can 
do anything to secure these for you, I will be very 
glad, as you must know.” And she smiled at him 
encouraging y. 

“That’s just it, Kate. I am in a state of mind where 
I have neither 1 est nor peace Don’t > ou remember that 
Alicia Flemming and I were boy and girl lovers yeais 
ago?” 

“Well,” said Kate, laughing at his earnestness, ‘I 
think I do remember that there was a period of softness 
between you two, and that I was used as a carrier of notes 
from one stricken soul -to the other. I remember, too, 
that I was a rather unwilling agent in the business, for, 
to tell the truth, I was myself a little in love with my 
handsome cousin, and inclined to be jealous of the other 
girl.” 

“Kate.” he began, ignoring her pleasantry, “when I 
met Alicia the other day, all my love seemed to spring 
up into a pe feet agony of p,iss : on. I thought I had 
forgotten her, but n >w I love her as I never d*d before. 
I w. s fool enough to hone that she might be affected as I 
was at our meeting, and I spoke to her too soon. She is 
cold to me as v< t, and what is worse, she is thrown into 
daily contact with young Hawthorne, who is immensely 
rich, not bad looking, and evidently attracted by her. It 
makes me desperate. He saved my life, but if he takes 
Alicia from me he would better have left me to drown.” 

“Mercy on me!” cri d Kate. “Is it as bad *as that? 
Nonsense, Walter! You’re simply unstrung and the 
victim of your fevered imagination. Don’t be silly.” 

“ I may be silly, Kate, and I may be sick; but the facts 
remain as they are, and the results will be serious if my 
mind is not relieved of its anxiety. You must help me. 


40 The House of the Honeymoon. 

I depend upon you.” 

“ liut, in what way can I help you, Walter?” Kate 
asked, feeling a 1 ttle impatient with her cousin’s intens ty. 
“ If the girl doesn’t love you, I certainly can't compel her 
to, and if she chooses the other man, how can I hinder 
h.r? ” 

“Take the other man from her, — that’s how,” said 
El verson, decidedly. “I have arranged that we four 
shall picnic up on the bluff tomorrow afternoon. You 
will meet Hawthorne. He is a little diffident, but you 
can draw him out. I want you to do your best to capture 
him. You can do it, Kate, if you try. With him out of 
the way, I have no doubt of my success with Alicia.” 

Kate laughed heartily at the proposition jet before her. 
Thm she sat for a time looking at Elverson with a look 
ihat was intent but impersonal. She was th inking out 
his strange proposal — thinking it out along lines he 1 ttle 
suspected. Her cousinshii) to Elverson was rather i emote, 
but her orphaned childhood had been sheltered in his home, 
and they had grown up together like brother and sister. 
From the davs of babyhood, through all the years, jhe 
had 1 ved her cousin with a fervor, and persistency for 
v hich there was no accounting, even to herself. As a 
boy Elverson had been handsome in a delicate sort of way, 
and had been possessed of a certain facility loth in his 
studies and in his social reladons which had greatly 
impressed her; the more, perhaps, because she herself had 
developed very slowly both in mind and body. She could 
now recall the thin, rather sallow face and meagre body of 
which she had been so uncomfortably conscious as a child, 
and her shame in the sluggish action of her mind, making 
her find the lessons so hard that her handsome cousin 
found so easy. 

She followed rapidly the course of events. She saw him 
glow more and more uncertain of himself, undecided, 
unreliable, as he approached yo ng manhood. His one 
really great talent he cultivated in a fitful way, now 
plunging in with a feve-ish zeal, and again wasting 
months in neglect of it. She .recalled her own unceasing 
efforts to spur him on, using discreetly the flattery which 
stimulates natures like his, and often intoxicates. It was 
she who had finally determ ned him to go to Paris, after 
ha ing pi .turn d to him for some years the advantages to 
be gained ; and it was she who went with him, to tide him 
over the first months of separation from the home-life. 
Every year i t the close ( f Elverson’s annual visit home 
she had gone back to Paris with him, staying just long 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


4 * 


enough to get him comfortably settled, and hurrying 
away before he could feel her a burden. 

The atmosphere of the art world over there had done 
him good. In the i msence of great masters, assisted by 
their instruction and inspired by their praise, he l ad been 
commendably industr.ous, and had made much of hisgi.ts. 
When he at last came back to his native land and set up 
his studio in New York, Kate had noticed with great 
delight an apparent change in his habitual attitude 
towards her. One day, at a time when he was spending a 
couple of weeks at his p rental home, he and Kate were 
driving. For some time he had listened to her gay chat, 
but made no response to her attemps to rally him. Pres- 
ently he turned to her and said: 

“ Kate, all I am I owe to you.” 

“ Nonsense! ” she responded, though her cheeks flushed 
with emotion. 

“No,” he went on, thoughtfully, “it is not nonsense.” 
You have devoted yourself to me, absolutely, a 1 these 
years. I have not always been blind. I am not ungrate- 
ful. You have long been very beautiful. You are rich. 
Yoii might have married early, and taken your pick of 
the bes*\ And yt t you still give to me the same undivided 
devoticn. Do you know, Kate, I have for some time 
wondered — ” 

Just then a passing bicy* le had startled the high-spirited 
team, and the effort to pacify them had broken into his 
mood. Home was reached by the time the animals were 
reasonably quiet, and he did not resume the subject. But 
the remembrance of his words had haunted her ever since. 

Now this new freak of fancy had laid hold of him. 
Kate had remembered the desultory attentions Elverson 
had paid Alicia when they were all schoolmates, and how 
Alicia had dropped out of their lives and been forgotten. 
It was quite in keeping with her cousin’s eccentric tem- 
perament, this sudden revival of that early fancy. The 
only question was how long it would last, and how best 
to shorten it. What could she do? To combat it would 
only make matters worse ; he must not think her unsym- 
pathethic; and yet, — 

“Why don’t you say something? ” demanded Elverson, 
irritated by her long silence. 

“Sh-h-sh!” said Kate, holding her outspread hand 
before her, with a tragic gesture. “ Don’t interrupt my 
meditation. Remember, you have given me a serious 
task. I am to set a wile for the rich young villain of our 
drama, and rescue the beautiful heroine from the peril of 


42 


TheHouse of the Honeymoon. 


his arms. How shall I do this without a deeply laid pb't? 
1 must meet scheme with scheme, design with design, 
and, if it goes so far, villainy with villainy.” 

“O, drop the heroics! All you’ve got to do is just to 
be yourself. Talk to him. Keep him away from her. 
He has’n’t known her long, and you can capture him if 
you try.” 

“ And what will I do with him when I’ve got him safely 
on the hook? ” 

“Take him off and throw him overboard. You’ve 
refused a good m -nv better men.” 

“ But, suppose he captures me? Suppose the biter gets 
bitten? I’m getting along in years, and you will have 
your own home. Wh.it if I should accept the chance to 
s. ttle down? ” 

Eiverson raised himself, and looked at her smiling face 
intently for a few seconds. 

“I don’t think you’d do it,” he finally said, dropping 
back on the couch. But he lay silent for a long, long 
time after that. Meanwhile Mi>s Kate Bas<.om did some 
pretty good plotting, preparatory to the coming campaign. 


CHAPTER VII. 

The ten o’clock boat the next morning brought an 
unexpected caller to the Hawthorne cottage. It was Mr. 
Wall. In explanation of his trip he merely said that he 
had been wanting a little es ape from the office, and 
thought the s ,il down the bay would freshen him up, and 
give him the additional pleasure of a chat with Mrs. 
Hawthorne. He announced that he had succeeded 
the evening before in making definite arrangements to 
put his men to work the next week on the interior decora- 
tion of the house. Although the question of wall 
cov wrings had been pretty well decided, he had brought 
with h : m some samples of a new line recently placed on 
the market by the Fab-Ri-Ko-Na Mills, and peculiarly 
ada pted for bed-chambers and other rooms where a 
covering more dainty and delicate than the burlap was 
desirable. 

Out in Mrs. Hawthorne’s favorite corner of the veranda 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


43 


she, Alic'a and Mr. Wall examined the samples. 

“And what, for mercy’s sake, do they call this beautiful 
stuff? ” asked the old lady. “ I suppose they’ve exercised 
their uvual ingenuity in dev : sing something outlandish.” 
c “This is known as ‘ Krash-Ko Na,’ ” said Mr. Wall. 

“ Well, that’s not so bad. How many of these Ko-Na’s 
does that make? I can’t k‘ ep track of them all.” 

Mr. Wall, after the habit he had, began to count on his 
fingers 

“There’s Shel-Ko-Na, Lustra-Ko-Na, Lining- Ko-Na, 
Hessian-Ko-Na, Krash-Ko-Na and Ko-Na-Colors. With 
the exception of theCcdors, and ncluding Tapestry Burlap, 
Dyed Tapestry Burlap, Prepared Burlap, the Metallic 
Effects and the Prepared Canvas they all belong under the 
c mmon trale-mark Fab-Ri-Ko-Na, and are made by the 
Fab-Ri-Ko-Na Mills.” 

“ It reminds me,” said the old lady, with her quizzical 
smile, “of the family I knew years ago. The parents 
were fond of the name Ann, so, as the children came, 
they put Ann in the name of each one. For several 
succ ‘Ssive arrivals that was all right. They had Eliza 
Ann, Jane Ann, Sarah Ann, Lizzie Ann, Polly Ann, Mary 
Ann and Jerusha Ann. The last child broke the record. 
It was a boy. But he had to bear his share of the family 
fad, and he was known as Johnny Ann.” 

When the laugh was over, Al.cia asked: 

“ But what dot s the word Fab-Ri-Ko-Na mean? Does 
it have any meaning?” 

“You won’t find it in the di tionary, my dear,” said 
the decorator. “ Its a pure invention. But to the decor- 
ating trade the word has come to mean ‘ the highest 
standard of quality.’ To say that a piece of goods is 
Fab-Ri-Ko-Na, is equivalent to saying it is the b st of 
its kind. 

“ One of the great things about Fab-Ri-Ko-Na is that 
you can depend on it being the standard ai d up to 
standard. The manufacturers are the originators of the 
idea. , They^are the first who put a backing on burlaps so 
that we could paste the woven wall coverings to the wall 
just as we do wall paper. Of course imitators are in the 
field, but, not having the knowledge or facilities needed 
to make goods that will be permanently satisfactory, they 
simply produce inferior goods, and depend on a slight 
difference in price to secure business. But. what’s the 
use? What is a matter of a few cents more or less -on a 
yard, when it’s a question of dollars worth of wear and 
satisfaction? The average homemaker is no fool, and the 


44 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


average decorator has a level head. We would rather 
handle something which we can confidently recommend ; 
and those of us who bit once or twice at the ‘ cheap ’ bait, 
know better now.” 

“I noticed you mentioned ‘ Hessian- Ko-No,’ ‘ Lustra- 
Ko-Na,’ and 1 Metallic Effects,’ in your list of Fab-Ri-Ko- 
Na,” said Alicia. “Can you tell me just what they are? ” 

“Surely, surely! Hessian-Ko-Na is a basket-weave 
goods, very beautiful for bordered panels, or for two-thirds 
treatment of walls. They are made in two-yard width only, 
and are intended for running around the room. The 
heavy weave makes it difficult to butt it as we can the 
strips of burlap or Krash. It is very rich in effect. The 
Lustra-Ko-Na is made with a lustrous special surface, and 
in the light and delicate tints suitable for drawing-rooms, 
bed-chambers, and where a particularly ornate ceiling is 
required. * The Metallic Effects get their name from the 
metallic treatment of the surface of the threads, which 
gives the goods a soft brilliance which must be seen to be 
appreciated. The Lustra-Ko-Na and Metallic surfaces 
lend themselves peculiarly to decorative stenciling, setting 
out the various colors with great distinction. The Fab- 
Ri-Ko-Na people are all the time helping the decorator 
and his patrons' by devising specialties. Not all their 
line is put in the sample books. They keep so far ahead 
of the other fellows that they are a procession all by them- 
selves. Just now they are pushing something to interest 
the ladies who do fancy-work. Have you seen the burlap 
couch pillow (overs, worked with raffia? ” 

“O, yes!” said Alicia. “I have one or two in my 
studio. I bought them at a store. But the raffia is not 
very well dyed, and the burlap is flimsy, and is already 
beginning to fade.” 

“There you have it!” exclaimed Mr. Wall. The 
Fab-Ri-Ko-Na couch pillow covers are made of good, 
well-dyed burlap, and the raffia furnished for them is the 
real thing. That’s always the way. That’s what I mean 
when I say that Fab-Ri-Ko-Na stands for the best 
in quality.” 

Then they took up the serious discussion of their plans 
for the upper rooms of the house, to determine where they 
might make use of the new Krash goods in place of the 
previously selected burlap. As the upper hallway was 
practically a continuation of the lower, they would carry 
the light green burlap on up, as they had planned ; they 
would put burlap on George’s sleeping-room, dressing- 
room, billiard-room and den; but in the other sleeping 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


45 


rooms and dressing rooms, they would put the Krash- 
Ko-Na. The rooms on the lighter side of the house 
should be done in the more neutral tints, with stronger 
colors where the rooms were darker. As the rooms were 
not intended to opep out as the rooms down stairs, but 
were intended for separateness and privacy, the need 
of a general color scheme was not so compelling. 
Each room could be treated individually, one in blue, 
one in red, one in cream or light grey, and so on. 
During the talk the selections were made, and both 
Mrs. Hawthorne and Alicia were delighted with the 
fine texture, delicate colors, and exquisite finish of 
the new goods. 

They had about concluded their business affairs, and 
Mrs. Hawthorne had succeeded in inducing Mr. Wall to 
stay to lunch, when they saw Elverson coming slowly up 
the la\yn. Mrs. Hawthorne who was not anxious to have 
him interrupt her visit with the decorator, and who 
possibly had been wishing to have Mr. Wall to herself for a 
time, signalled to Alicia to go and meet Elverson, and 
dispose of him for the present. Alicia understood, and 
went, but not with any appearance of eagerness. When 
Alicia was out of range, Mrs. Hawthorne leaned back in 
her easy chair, with a look of exasperation on her face, 
and asked a rather unexpected question. 

“ Do I look like a schemer, Mr. Wall?” 

“ Not particularly. Still, you’re a woman. All women 
scheme more or less. It’s said to be because they have 
always been the dependent sex. They have had to 
scheme. It was their only weapon against the male 
animal’s selfishness.” 

“Well, I’ve been living up to my feminine privilege, 
then. And that young man, who is, I hope, making 
himself a dreadful bore to Miss Flemming, is the villain- 
ous marplot who threatens to bring my plans to naught.” 

“You are pleased with Miss Flemming, I imagine.” 

“Very much, indeed.” 

“ And that means? ” 

“Of course it does. What else could it mean. I want 
her for George. I am in very uncertain health. I have 
occasional attacks not to be misunderstood. The day is 
not far away when my boy will be left without my 
companionship, and I am anxious that he should find 
some sound, sensible, straightforward girl to marry. He 
has never been inclined to go out in society, and has had 
few acquaintances among young women. It’s all the 
better. Here is a girl with good health, a good heart, 


46 The House of the Honeymoon. 

and more than usual intelligence. She has had experience 
in the world, and made her way against odds. She don’t 
know everything, — but who does? The ability and will to 
learn are of more account than too much knowledge that 
will soon be out of date, or made of no import, nee by the 
new interests or emergencies of the future. As 1 can’t get 
around much, I felt it a special providence when the g ii 1 
was sent here. I confess I would like to sec the nt w 
house fitted as much for her as for me, and it would be 
my last great pleasure to have it become the House of their 
Honeymoon. But — ” and Mrs. Hawthorne folded her 
hands in her lap, and looked the picture of hopeless 
resignation. 

“ Who is the intruder?” asked Mr. Wall. 

“ O, an artist chap — old schoolmate — friend of the 
family— early admirer. He’d forgotten he ■ for years, 
and only chanced to meet her the day George brought 
her here. Took it into his fevere I head to fancy h.mself 
over ears in a renewal of past love, and has haunted her 
ever since Came near being drowned the other night, 
and George saved him. Which was fortunate for him, 
but not an unmixed blessing for the rest of us. The 
shock upset his nerves, and now he’s more difficult than 
ever. Just in the condition to suicide, or do something 
worse, if crossed.” 

But what about George ami Miss Flemming? Do you 
have any idea as to their feeling? ” 

“As to George, yes. The dear boy tells me every- 
thing As to Miss 1 lemming, no. I can only hope. If 
there were no counter-atti action, I would ha\ e a g< od 
de d of confidenc ', but you know how it is with a woman. 
The stronger she is herself, the surer she is to be a trac Ud 
by weakness, and when a man gets ir to the cot d ti n that 
artist is in, she is apt to pity h.m, and — ” 

“ And pity is akin to love?” 

“Exactly. That’s what I fe. r. George w il be home 
carl/ this afternoon ai d they are to go up on the bluff 
and hive a sort of picni dinner. By ‘they’ I mean 
George, Mr. Elverson, Miss Flemming and another ) oung 
woman who is a t emote cousin to Mr. El verson and has 
.j ist come down to board at the Belvidere, where he is 
stay ng. I haven’t seen her, but I hope shos has good 
sen e, and won’t become another inte ference with my 
s >ccial providence.” 

Elverson was now seen taking his departure. V hen 
Alicia came back to ihem her face showed signs of dis*ress 
in spite cf her efforts to -avoid it, and there wso a sugges- 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


47 


tion of tears in her eyes. Mrs. Hawthorne thoughtful’y 
saved the situation. 

“Suppose,” she remaiked, just as if the conversation 
had been on that line during - Alicia’s absence; “suppose 
you were going to put the Fab-Ri Ko-Na rn old wall , 
that had been papered or white-washed. What prepara- 
tion would the walls need?” 

“We’d scrape them down to the hard plaster. If then* 
were big cracks, we’d fill them: if the cracks were small 
we’d just sand paper the edges smooth. j\ny projecting 
points in the plaster should be rubbed down so as to get 
a good surface. Then a coat of sizing is all that’s needed 
before putting on the fabrics.” 

“Do the paperhangers have any trouble with putting 
the goods on? ” 

“Not at all. They paste them just as they would 
wall-paper, then fold the strips, and trim them with a 
sharp knife to get a perfectly true edge. The pasted 
goods are left to lie by a few minutes, so that the hacking 
of the goods is made thoroughly alive, and then the 
hanging is easy. In putting on the Lining Ko-Na the wall 
is pasted instead of the goods. The goods are simply 
laid on and brushed down thoroughly.” 

“I should think the very wide goods would be a 
problem.” 

“ O, no! It merdy requires iwo men to handle them; 
one to adjust and the other to hold. In this case, too, 
we find it best to paste the wall instead of the g< ods, but 
we damp n the goods and kt them lie a few minutes. It 
softens the backing, and makes it take hold.” 

Here the lunch bell inter-up 1 ed, and the discussion of 
interior decoration gave way to the discussion of interior 
supply. 


CHAPTER VIII. 

The boat that brought Hawthorne from the city took 
Mr. Wall back. George had not been home long before 
a carriage contain ng M'. El verson and Miss Bascom, 
with a vacant seat for Hawthorne and Alicia, drove up. 
The occupants of the carriage efid not get out while the 
introductions were made, so that Mrs. Hawthorne caught 


48 The House of the Honeymoon. 

only a glimpse of Kate’s face. 

“Decent looking person,” she commented to herself, 
as the carriage drove away. “I should judge she has 
more sense than her cousin. It’s certainly to be hoped.” 

During the ascent of the steep hill that must be climbed 
before you come to the real woodlands on the bluff, and 
during the mile or more of drive through the tree- 
embowered road to the spot on the edge of the bluff 
where Elverson had arranged for a table, some hammocks, 
a chair or two, and other comforts, the conversation was 
mostly between the two young women. Hawthorne’s 
natural diffidence with strangers seemed strongly on him, 
and Elverson’s intense feeling made him silent and rather 
glum. It was hardly a festive company in appearance, 
and in reality not one of the lot either felt or anticipated 
any great pleasure. Elverson’s interview with Alicia 
that morning had not been satisfactory. Alicia was in dread 
of another of its kind. Kate was uncertain how the plot 
she had contrived would work out; and Hawthorne was 
thinking how much more he would have enjoyed a quiet 
little sail or drive with Alicia alone. 

What they were to do after they got there, between the 
time of arrival and the hour at which the caterer’s people 
would come with the eatables, no one had distinctly 
planned. The first few moments were spent in standing 
on the edge of the bluff, at a point where there were no 
intervening trees, and looking out over the bay,, across 
the narrow Hook, and far out to where the sky came 
down to meet the sea, and the sea came up to meet the 
sky, and the misty horizon-cloud veiled their meeting 
from the vulgar gaze. 

Then a path was discovered descending the face of the 
bluff to the beach. The descent was very sharp, but a 
rustic railing guarded one side of the path, and many 
small trees and bushes, and the roots of larger trees 
afforded hand-holds to which they might cling. Elverson 
proposed trying it, and was heartily seconded by Kate, 
who feared noting so much as that they should be kept 
close together. . Alicia demurred, and Hawthorne quickly 
proposed that he and Miss Flemming remain where they 
were, while Elverson and Miss Bascom make the venture. 
But this so evidently irritated Elverson, who stood at the 
edge of the bluff reaching out his hand to Alicia, that she 
thought it better to humor him, and started with him on 
what seemed to her a perilous undertaking. Her consent 
seemed to put him in high spirits. His feebleness was 
forgotten. Had she permitted, he would gladly have 


The House of the Honeymoon. 49 

carried her down, though her weight nearly equalled his 
own. 

There was nothing then for Hawthorne but to assist 
Miss Bascom, who, having had plenty of experience in 
mountain-climing, really needed very little of his help. 

By various innocent expedients Kate managed to delay 
their progress until Elverson and Alicia were far below 
them. Then, coming to a little level, where poor Alicia 
had vainly wished to wait for them, Kate seated herself, 
and pointedly made room for Hawthorne beside her. 
That young man was rather staggered by the coolness of 
her proceedings, but sat obediently down. 

“Now Mr. Hawthorne,” began Kate, “I am going to 
be very frank with you, and ask you to be equally so with 
me. Circumstances sometimes arise when it would be 
folly to allow com entional barriers to stand between us 
and the one short, straight path. I wish to confess to 
you that I am in love with Mr. Elverson, and have been 
ever since we were children together. Do you love Miss 
Flemming? ” 

Hawthorne looked at her for a moment in speechless 
amazement. This was frankness with a vengeance! 
What f hould he say? 

Seeing him hesitate, Kate went on: 

“ Don’t answer me unless you are perfectly willing to, 
but it may help us both if we come to an understanding. ” 

“I haven’t known Miss Flemming very long,” Haw- 
thorne finally said, “and I have hardly had time to — to — 
well, to bring myself to the point of public avowal, — but 
— I am hoping to win her for my wife.” 

“ I thought as much,” said Kate, “And now I wish 
you to join me in an experiment which may work to the 
advantage of all concerned. I am quite sure Miss 
Flemming is not in love with my cousin, and I am qu.te 
as sure that his present ardor in pursuit of her is but one 
of his eccentric whims. If he really loves any one it is 
me. I have been his companion and dependence for 
years, and he has been on the* point of declaring a more 
than brotherly feeling for me. I know him perfectly. 
The experiment I wish to make is that you should for a 
time pay very marked attention to me. I will do my 
best to make myself as little of a bore as possible. We 
will neglect him as completely as we dare, and see how 
long it will take him to come around.” 

“ But. what about Miss Flemming? ” asked Hawthorne, 
still almost dazed by the directness of this perfectly 
poised young woman. 


50 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


“That,” replied Kate, laughing, “ I must leave to you. 
If you are certain of yourself and of her, you can propose 
to her, and explain your temporary devotion to me. Or, 
you can explain to your mother my own part in the plot, 
and leave it to her as to whether Miss Flemming shall be 
told. What say you? ” 

“ I’ll do my best,” Hawthorne said, looking with some 
embarrassment, but with no small admiration at the 
beautiful woman to whom he was pledging his attentions. 
“I have had very little practice at such things, and you 
may find me ver/ stupid and awkward.” 

“ It will be a good training for you, then. But it’s 
time we hunted up the others. Be sure you don’t forget 
to play your part.” She glanced archly at him. 

Such a glance from such eyes was in itself a safeguard 
against such forgetfulness. Although he knew it to be but 
the beginning of their little play, and that it could have 
nothing in it for him, Hawthorne could not help tingling 
to his finger tips as she swept him with her glance, and 
beckoned him to come. And when, a lit le out of breath, 
she stopped and leaned one Hand upon his shou’der, or, in 
the more difficult descents permitted h' r soft plump hand 
to lie a moment in the grasp of his own strong fingers, he 
felt with something of a flutter that it was going to be a 
most delightful play, whether it turned out to be a comedy 
or a tragedy. 

They found Elverson and Alicia. An old pier, one side 
of which had been torn away by the storms, projected out 
into the bay just where the path dropped to the beach. 
Alici i was sitting by herself on a rud- bench at the land 
end of the pier, and Elverson was out on the extreme end 
of the feeble structure, leaning upon the wobbly railing, 
and moodily watching the waves as they lapped against 
the insecure supports. Evidently they had not gotten 
along well together. 

A icia rose with some commonplace remark as 
H wthorne and Kate approached. Kate called to Walter, 
an 1 he came to them. Then, grouped t gether, they made 
thj climb back to the bluff, Hawthorne assiduously assist- 
ing Kate, leaving Alicia to Elverson, who did not seem 
quite so e.igeras when they went down. Kate kept up a 
merry badinage that highly diverted Hawthorne, though 
th * others made little response to it. 

The lest of the afternoon passed in much the same way. 
Rank injustice was done to the excellent dinner served 
out there in that most charming woodland. When the 
carriage came to take them home it was a relief to all. 






“A Delightful Play 


Page 50. 


52 The House of the Honeymoon. 

That evening, on the plea of weariness, Alicia went to 
her room very early. She wanted to think things over. 
Elverson had behaved abominably during the day, and 
had frightened her almost out of her wits that afternoon 
by going out on the pier with’ the avowed intention of 
casting himself into the water. She had not dared call 
assistance before it was positively needed, for fear of the 
explanations she must then make. But she had sat there 
with every nerve str .ined to its limit. 

Could it be that he really did love her as intensely as he 
declared? She had heard of love at first sight, and how it 
endured to the end. In this case his feeing had a founda- 
tion in their childhood romance. To be sure he was a 
weak man, compared with some others, but in his art he 
was a master. Was it not true of all genius that the 
extraordinary development on one side left a deficiency on 
some other side? What did a genius need, then, but 
someone strong enough to make the balance? Could she 
be that one? 

She did not go closely enough into the matter to dis- 
cover whether her thoughts had turned in this direction 
before she noticed Hawthorne’s devotion to Miss Bascom 
or afterward. And, if the chronicler knew, why should 
he tell? 

While Alicia was thus engaged in her room, Hawthorne 
and his mother were having a confidential chat down in 
the library. 

“My dear boy,” his mother said, after he had told her 
all, “you have undertaken a very uncertain experiment. 
You have precipitated a condition full of possibilities for 
mischief. But, as it has started, we can keep it up for a 
while, and watch the symptoms carefully. You don’t 
think you dare risk proposing at once to Miss Flemming? ” 

“Why, mother, it would appear preposterous. I’ve 
known her only a few days, and have no reason to think 
she cares a straw for me.” 

“That’s true. Well, we’ll see how it all comes out. 
I’ll explain some things to Miss Flemming in the morn- 
ing.” 

At the same time, Kate and Elverson were together in 
his sitting-room, as they had been the evening before. 

Elverson, very tired from the exertions and excitements 
of the day, had thrown himself down on his couch, with a 
good cigar to help steady him. Kate had gone to her 
room to change her dres <=. When she came back, noticing 
how worn he looked, she got another cushion for his head, 
and, after adjusting it and gently smoothing back his dis- 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


53 


ordered hair, sat down beside him in a rocker. 

“ Have I pleased you today, Walter?” she asked, after 
waiting some time for him to speak. 

“ In what w >y? ” 

‘•Why, in my efforts to keep Mr. Hawthorne and Miss 
Flemming apart, and give you your desired chance with 
her.” 

“ You certainly kept them apart.” His tone was hardly 
what one would regard as complimentary. Kate ignored 
it, however. 

“I found Mr. Hawthorne an exceptionally nice young 
man. There’s nothing showy about him, but he’s a solid, 
well-balanced chap, refreshingly modest and free from 
nonsense.” 

“ O, I’ve no doubt he’s got as many virtues as he has 
dollars. You’ve had only one day’s observation. Of 
course each day will reveal new glories, and you’ll have a 
halo around h m in a week.” 

“Now, Walter, is that kind? Am I not doing my best 
in your service. Only last night you asked me to devote 
myself to him. And can you wish it otherwise if I find it 
less difficult than it might have been?” 

El verson lound no answer to this, so he pretended that 
l ii cigar was imperfectly lighted, struck a match, puffed 
out a thick cloud of smoke, and then lay back again, blow- 
ing the smoke ceilingward in a rather petulant way. Kate 
drew nearer, took one of his hands in hers, and 
stroked it in a way some women have; a way that those 
part ; cular women make very soothing to unstrung nerves. 
When she spoke her voice was as caressing as her touch. 
If Kate tiied she could produce a tone that was the next 
best thing to a kiss. 

“ Walter,” she said, “don’t you know, dear, how much 
my life has always been lived for you? I am not speaking 
regretf illy, for it has been my one great joy. To see you 
gro.Y into manhood ; to watch you as you rose to greater 
and greater he : ghts of power and fame; to feel that I had 
apart, however humble, in helping you; to realize with 
mingled humility and pride that you were my brother, 
my playmate, my constant friend; that besides your 
parents there was none other who was so near to you as I, 
— all this has been mine, Walter, as I have been all yours. 

“And now that the moment has come to which I have 
long looked forward, the moment when a sister’s love 
could no longer be all in all to you, when your heart has 
gone out seeking its resting place in another heart, that 
your life may be made complete, do you think I fail to 


54 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


sympathize as I always did in other matters affecting your 
welfare? You cannot, must not think so, Walter. 

“Alicia is bjauiiful, and clever. She is poor, but you 
have income eno . gh f. >r marriage. She is a dear, delight- 
ful girl, who will, no doubt, be far more to you than ever 
I could be. You must not be too impetuous, or insistent. 
Remember, she is of an independent spirit, and will not 
easily )ield to compulsion. Be gentle with her, and 
patient. Show her how strong you Oan be, and how 
t nder. Then you will appeal to her admiration and 
sympathy, which with a girl like her represent the two 
hinges upon which the heart-door swings -open. 

“It I can help you to this happiness, I wdl do what 
may be needful. At the san e time I know the real gen- 
erosity of your heart. If a like happiness shall come to 
me, if the heart that h s so long been yours and that you 
now need no more, shall find its shelter in the love of a good, 
worthy man, you wi.l not wish it otherwise, or think dis- 
loyal one who has never failed you through all these 
years.” 

Elverson sat up. He looked at Kate, his face twitching 
with emotion. 

“You don’t mean — to say — that you have actually fallen 
in love — with Hawthorne — at your first meeting? ” His 
voice seemed to come in gasps, as though he were choking. 

“I reared to no one in particular,” she replied. 
“ What it it should be Hawthorne? He is a clean, i c liable 
man, not clever like you, but trustworthy and capable of 
both inspiring and rewarding love. What objection can 
you have? ” 

Elverson again fe 1 back on the cushion Kate had placed 
for him. He made no move, not even to put to h s lips 
the cigar he held in his hand. He lay like one stupefied. 
When at last he spoke it was in a tremulous tone which 
he tried in vain to control. 

“ Please leave me now, Kate. I must be alone. I am 
very tire \ and what you tell me is so strange that I cannot 
seem to grasp it. In the morning I shall be stronger.” 

Kate found the medicine the doctor bad left, had him 
take some of it, and then, bending over him until her lips 
touched his forehead, bade him good-night and left him. 
She was not certain but that she had rather overdone her 
part in the play. 

This chapter would not be complete without a record of 
the effect produced upon Alicia by the talk she had with 
Mrs. Hawthorne the next morning. The old lady ex- 
plained to her what George had disclosed as to the relations 


The House of the Honeymoon. 55 

between Kate and Elverson, and unfolded the scheme by 
which Kate hoped to draw Elverson to herself. 

“ So you see, my dear, that you need have no anxiety 
concerning your part in the matter. Treat Mr. Elverson 
kindly, remembering his c nfeebled condition. As he see's 
the growing int : macy between his cousin and my son, his 
attention will be diverted from you, and he will bend all 
his efforts to w n what he never b fore appreciated and 
seems about to lose. It is a trait of human nature to be- 
little what is freely given and to covet that which is 
witheld.” 

Perhaps if the shrewd old lady could have known how 
the revelation of this schem -5 affected the mind of Alicia, 
she would have realized that general truths have often 
unexpected applications. 

So Miss Bascom wanted Elverson, did she? And she 
was willing to stoop to a plot to get him, was she? And 
Miss Bascom was jealous of his love for another, and 
hoped to torture him into a renunciation? And she— 
Alicia — was depended upon to snub and rebuff the love 
poor Walter had for his schoolday sweetheart, just to 
throw him back into the arms of a women who had never 
aroused a similar emotion in him? Well, she— Alicia — 
would see. He should have fair play, at any rate, and be 
given an opportunity to make a free choice. Did she — 
Alicia — love him? She didn’t 1 now about that. She had 
once. What has been may again be. 




CHAPTER IX. 

Elverson did not leave his room that next day until 
about three o’clock. Kate had an appointment with her 
dressmaker, and went to the city, going by the same boat 
which carried Plawthorne to business. Of course they 
met. Alicia, after the morning talk on other matters, 
spent some hours with Mrs. Hawthorne, making up a list 
of the furniture and fittings for the new house. She was 
to begin the purchases the next week, and it was now 
Saturday. ^ 


56 The House of the Honeymoon. 

When Elverson did get out, he strolled feebly down 
the shore until he came the rocks upon which he and 
Alicia sat in their first quiet talk after their years of sep- 
aration. He was not now thinking so much of Alicia as 
of Kate, and it came as something of a shock to find Alicia 
sitting there as if awaiting him. His surprise was still 
gi eater when she rose with a charming smile of greeting, 
and stretched out her hand to steady him as he 
clambered over some broken stones in his path. 

“You Hok very worn aad tired, Walter,” she said, as 
he seated himself beside her. 

“ Yes ; yesterday was a little too much for my strength, ” 
he replied. As he did so he remembered what Kate had 
said to him about not being impetuous or insistent with 
Alicia. He determined that he would utter no word that 
day to which she might take exception. He was not con- 
scious that his feeling about Kate made this determination 
easier. Perhaps it didn’t. Who knoweth the mind of a 
man? 

They talked commonplaces for a while. Then it was 
Alicia (O woman!) who turned the current back to their 
schooldays, and to some of the merry times they and their 
companions had enjoyed together. To a recounting of 
the dead was an easy step, and from that to those of the 
living who had made their mark in the world was another, 
which naturally brought them to Walter’s own success, 
and to his experience in pursuit of it. How neatly Alicia 
led him on ! How interestedly she listened to his stories of 
Parisian life, and the infinite pains taken to cultivate 
artistic gifts, and to his record of artistic triumphs. She 
soon had him at his best. His sentimental weakness was 
forgotten by him. He was now simply the really great 
artist. 

But, though this was just what Alicia had regarded as 
the one thing wanting in Elverson heretofore; while she 
had resented his insistent love making, and his sentimen- 
tality, she could not now understand the sudden and 
complete change in him. Was Miss Bascom’s plot already 
working? Had Hawthorne’s attentions produced so 
immediate an effect? Had Walter’s professed love for 
her really been a mere passing frenzy, from which he 
could fully recover in a single night? 

When, seeing the evening boat coming in, they started 
for the town, how completely was the situation changed. 
Elverson, having started on the history of his career, 
had so many stories to tell of persons, places and adven- 
tures that he continued to talk with great animation as 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


57 


they walked along. It was Alicia now who was silent 
and growingly unresponsive. As they passed up the 
avenue toward the Hawthorne cottage they met, at a 
cross street, Hawthorne and Miss Bascom returning 
together from the boat. Kate Noticed how animated and 
cheerful Elverson was in Alicia’s company, and Alicia 
was as quick to note that Hawthorne’s diffidence had 
vanished, and that he and Kate seemed on the very best 
of terms indeed. Of course Alicia forced herself to be 
as bright as usual when under Miss Bascom’s eyes. But 
both women relapsed into silence after they had changed 
partners at the terrace steps leading up to the Hawthorne 
cottage. Hawthorne found a constraint between him 
and Alicia such as he had not felt since their first 
meeting, and Elverson found Kate more difficult that he 
had ever known her. Both men put their own construc- 
tions on these signs. Hawthorne assumed that his 
attention to Miss Bascom had offended Alicia, and it gave 
him a good deal of comfort. It assured him that she at 
least cared for him. Otherwise it would have been a 
matter of indifference to her. Elverson construed Kate’s 
mood to mean that she no longer found pleasure in his 
society, having yielded herself completely to Hawthorne’s 
charms. Which was far from being a comfort to him. 
He had thought more about Kate in the last twenty-four 
hours than in all their lives together before. 


CHAPTER X. 

•The beginning of the next week brought a change in 
the situation. On Monday, while Alicia and Hawthorne 
were in the city, Alicia busy with her selection of house- 
hold goods, Elverson received a telegram from his mother 
announcing the sudden illness of his father, and he and 
Kate, after calling on Mrs. Hawthorne to make explana- 
tions, left Wavecrest at once. Later in the week Alicia 
received a letter from Elverson in which he stated that his 
father’s condition was not serious, but that he and Miss 
Bascom would remain with his parents until his father 
should be able to get around again. It was a very friendly 
letter, but contained no outburst of sentiment. 


The House ok the Honeymoon. 


5 § 


Hawthorne gave as much time to helping Alicia rs his 
business would permit, and they were thus thrown to- 
gether a great deal, both in the citv, and at Wavecrest, 
where they watched with interest the work of transforming 
the rooms of the house by means of Fab-Ri-Ko-Na. Mr. 
Wall had put a number of competent workmen on the job, 
and the transformation was wrought with amazing swift- 
ness. Ample illustration was given of the facility with 
which the Fab-Ri-Ko-Na coverings could be put on the 
walls. 

In this busy way the days went by. Two weeks saw 
the walls finished, as far as the mere putting on of the 
fabrics was concerned, and before that time the decorative 
artists had begun to do what seemed wonderful things in 
the way of stenciling beautiful dadoes, panels and friezes 
by the use of Ko-Na-Colors This woik Mr. Wall super- 
intended in person. He examined the rugs Alicia had 
selected for the floors; the furniture and the hangings 
that were to make up each room. Alicia had made her 
selections with a view to harmony between these things 
and the color scheme of the walls. And now the decorator, 
finding what was the predominating element in the design, 
either in the floor covering or the draperies, or both, had 
the decorated portions of the walls and the ceilings carry 
out that element both in design and coloring. The result 
was beyond Alicia’s dreams. 

Two weeks more of urgent work found the house ready 
for the furnishings, and soon it began to assume a home- 
like look. 

During these busy days, Hawthorne had been the very 
soul of gentlemanly kindness and attention. Elverson 
had written once each week, but only in a courteous, 
friendly vein. In his last letter he had hoped ^that he 
and Miss Bascom might rejoin them before many days. 
But no definite time was set, and still no further attempt 
at sentiment was made. So far as Alicia knew, no 
correspondence had passed between Hawthorne and Miss 
Bascom, but she could not tell how frequently he had 
heard from her, as his mail was received at his city office. 
That he said very little about her, Alicia considered a bad 
sign. 

One evening when the house was nearing completion, 
as they were walking home after having been at the new 
house rather late, Hawthorne broke a rather long silence 
by saying: 

“Miss Flemming, I have been very uncertain about 
speaking to you on a subject that is very important to me. 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


59 


but which I fv ar may give you pain. I don’t know what 
your feeling toward me may be, but I have learned to 
love you very sincerely in the few weeks we have been 
together, and if you could give me any hope that my love 
may some day be acceptable to you, I should be very 
happy and grateful. It is my dearest wish, as I know it 
is my mother’s, that I may some day claim you as my wife,' 
and that the house may be the House of our Honeymoon.” 

Alicia could not speak. She was surprised by the 
sudden coming of what she scarcely ever ventured to 
expect. She was still uncertain of her own heart. She 
had, indeed, a very deep regard for Hawthorne, and for 
Elverson she had felt little affection until she was piqued 
by Kate’s scheme for capturing him. Had that feeling 
risen to real love? Was it on her part as evanescent a 
fancy as his had been for her? 

“Don’t feel obliged to answer me to-night, Miss 
Flemming,” said Hawthorne, after waiting some time. 
“That you do not at once refuse me gives me great 
encouragement. I love you too truly to wish to give you 
a moment's pain. Do with me what your heart bids you 
do, but give me a fair chance.” 

By t is time they were at home, and they parted with a 
mere good-night. ^ 

The next morning Elverson appeared. Kate was not 
with him, and he came only to pack his baggage for 
removal. He was decidedly improved in health. After 
he had made a 1 arrangements about the care of his 
effects, he called again, and asked Alicia to go with him 
once more to their seat upon the rocks. It was a calm 
August morning, and the whole world seemed wrapped 
in a garment of beauty. 

On their way to the shore Elverson told of his father’s 
complete recovery, of the pleasant times he and Kate had 
had in the mountains around the old home, and of his 
plans for g ing back to Paris in a few weeks to spend a 
part of the winter making studies for some work he had 
in view. 

When they were seated in the same spot where he first 
had sought to regain h~r, he sat thoughtfully for a few 
minutes. Then he turned to her. 

“Alicia,” he said, “you scorned me when we first sat 
here. You charged me with my neglect of you, and 
intimated that the child love you had for me was dead. 
I have come back to-day to see if anything in our week of 
companionship revived it. I was ill, and fretful, and I 
pursued you foolishly. Not until the last day of the week 


6o 


The House of the Honeymoon. 


did you change toward me. Was that change a sign of 
awakening love ! Do you love me now? ” 

The one thing Alicia noticed most was that Walter 
seemed perfectly cool about this momentous question. 
It was not natural for him, as she had known him, to be 
so perfectly unimpassioned when his feelings were 
strongly stirred. His present lack of warmth sent a chill 
through her that froze forever any life that long-ago 
sentiment might have regained. The antipathy she had 
at first felt came back more strongly than ever. In 
contrast with this man, the sober, strong and consistent 
Hawthorne stood out an alluring figure toward which her 
heart turned never again to falter. 

“No, Walter,” she replied. “I do not love you now, 
and never can. I hope you will find some other on whom 
you can bestow your heart. We are not suited to each 
other, and nothing but unhappiness could come to us if 
we made the great mistake of marrying.” 

This was just what was needed to stir up in Elverson 
the feeling she had missed. He protested and pleaded. 
He urged all the claims he could think of. But it was 
too late. Her decision had been reached, and was final. 

“I suppose, then, you’ll marry Hawthorne,” said 
Elverson, rather angrily, as they rose to leave the place. 
“You have been fitting up the House for your own 
Honeymoon. Is that it? ” 

“You have no right to speak to me in that way about 
it,” replied Alicia, calmly; “but it may be that what you 
say is true.” 

“Don’t you know it’s true?” demanded Elverson, 
growing more excited each moment. 

“No, I am not yet sure. He has asked me, but I 
haven’t promised. But, come, Walter, we had better 
part now. You may say unkind things if we go any 
further, and I would rather part in friendship. Good-by. ” 
And she held out her hand. 

He looked at her for a moment. The tears sprang to 
his eyes and put out the fire of anger. He took her hand, 
lifted it to his lips, and turned away. 

When Alicia reached the cottage she found all excite- 
ment. A servant had been sent to look for her but had 
failed to find her. Mrs. Hawthorne had been taken with 
another of her seizures, and was in an unconscious con- 
dition. The doctor was with her. 

Alicia hurried to the room, and busied herself with as- 
sisting the doctor. When they had done all that was 
possible, the doctor took her from the room. 


The House of the Honeymoon. 6i 

u You’d better send for Mr. Hawthorne at once,” he 
said. “His mother may rally for a little time, but the 
end is not far off. She is hardly likely to live through 
the night.” 

After the despatch had been sent, Alicia went back to 
the sick-room. There was little she could do — little to 
be done. The shock had come with such suddenness that 
she could not realize it. As she looked down upon the 
dear old face, beautiful in its framing of snow white. hair, 
and thought of the strong mind and kindly heart now 
passing down into the valley of shadow, and of the long 
years of repressed desire which now could never see ful- 
fillment in this world, her tears fell fast. She remem- 
bered the motherly kindness with which the dear old 
woman had greeted her, and of its many expressions 
during the weeks past. And she thought of the son to 
to whom this mother had been so peculiarly bound, of 
his loneliness when that bond was broken, and of her 
power to go into his life if she would, and comfort him. 

The hours seemed long until he came, though he made 
the utmost speed. Consciousness had not returned, and 
the doctor doubted if it would. 

But he was mistaken. A little before midnight, while 
the doctor was sleeping in an adjoining room, and only 
George and Alicia were by the bedside, Mrs. Hawthorne 
suddenly opened her eyes. They at once bent over over 
her. As she saw the two faces together she smiled. 

“ My children, ” she murmured with difficulty. “My 
own children. You will take him from me, won’t you 
dear? ” And Alicia, her tears streaming, promised. 
“And the House that was to be the House of my Honey- 
moon shall be yours. Let it be soon, — as coon as I am 
laid to rest. I am going . to the House not made with 
hands. God — bless — you.” 

She sank into unconsciousness again, to awake no more 
in this world. When the dawn came, she went out 
on the wings of the morning. 

And, standing beside the bed on which lay the form of 
her whom he had lost, George Hawthorne laid upon his 
shoulder the tired head of her whom he had found, and 
with his first kisses kissed away the tears of their mutual 
grief. 


The day after the funeral Alicia received a note from 
Elverson which ran as follows : 


62 The House of the Honeymoon. 

Dear Alicia : 

Kate and I were married last night, and we leave 
for Paris Saturday. Thought you’d be interested. Hope 
you and Hawthorne are well. Let us know when the event 
is to come off. 

Cordially yours, 

Walter. 

He did not mention then, and it was some years before 
she knew, that Kate had sent Elverson down on that day 
of his last visit, expressly to propose to Alicia, feeling 
that he owed it to her a' ter all the protestations he had 
made, and perfectly confident that Alicia would refuse 
him. 

Three weeks after laying her away who had planned 
the house, Alicia and George were quietly united, and 
beean their honeymoon within the walls whose coverings 
and ornaments would always be a reminder to them of 
her sweet, wise spirit. And many times in the quiet 
years of the future they could almost fancy that her 
gentle presence was with them, sanctifying the common- 
est experiences of their lives, and causing a hallowed 
calm to rest upon the House of the Honeymoon. 



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